Crowdsourcing Boobs
Posted by Tom Megginson | 28-10-2010 13:51 | Category: Health, PinkvertsYes, it’s another post about breasts. But why shouldn’t it be?
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and it’s almost over. Also coming to an end is one of the more entertaining self-examination awareness campaigns, YouBoob.
Presented by Pennsylvania not for profit Feel Your Boobies, it offers a $10,000 USD prize to the funniest PSA for breast self-examination. And since this is the contest’s fourth time around, it has garnered a lot of attention and participation.
Feel Your Boobies as founded in 2004 by Leigh Hurst, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 33. Having found her lump accidentally, rather than through forma self-exam, Leigh became convinced that simply encouraging young women to fondle their own breasts as often as possible was the best way to promote early detection.
Looking at the videos, you will immediately notice that many were obviously written and produced by and/or for men, and have a distinctly sexual feel. This is a controversial issue in breast cancer social marketing, and one that will probably become any less so in the future. Once open discussion of “boobies” has become completely normalized, by campaigns such as “I Love Boobies” and “CoppaFeel”, people will use the licence to thrill.
Check out some of the videos (after the break) and weigh with your opinion of the current tone of breast cancer awareness PSAs targeting youth. Is this the best way to open up a frank discussion about an important health issue?
Here are some of the entries, arbitrarily chosen because they caught my eye.
See all the videos here. Unfortunately, voting is now closed.
And one of my favourites, in concept if not execution:
Advertiser:
Feel Your Boobies
Source:
YouBoob
