Maximum Effort’s creative smarts have put together a startling on air stunt 25 years ago and the ad controversy of 2025 to break through colon cancer testing resistance. After losing her first husband to colon cancer in 1997, Katie Couric made history when she received her first colonoscopy on-air as host of the Today show. The result, inspiring millions of Americans to do the same, became known as the Couric Effect. In July this year, American Eagle lit a fire about race and beauty standards with an ad that played with a pun on genes and jeans.

On the 25^th anniversary of Couric’s remarkable on air event, Maximum Effort, has coaxed her back into the cancer spotlight with Lead From Behind, an awareness initiative powered by the Colorectal Cancer Alliance. As usual, the agency’s flair for seizing the moment with wit leads the campaign. It’s a parody of Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad. And, like its predecessor 25 years ago, the campaign launched on the TODAY Show again.

The voice, font and style of the video are very similar to Sweeney’s. This time though, the tongue-in-cheek play between “jeans” and “genes,” is anything but flippant. It reminds viewers that colon cancer doesn’t just run in families; screening matters for everyone, regardless of genetic history.