'Save the Boobs' Campaign All That Bad?

Although they can arise a chuckle out of me every once in awhile, I am rarely impacted by advertising messages that are centered on sexual inuendo. Not the case with ReThink Breast Cancer’s ‘Save the Boobs’ public service announcement. This video and the strategy behind it had a surprisingly positive effect on me.

This Canada-based organization, which targets men and women under the age of 40 in an effort to raise awareness of breast cancer in younger generations, decided to go a little bolder than your run-of-the-mill public service announcement. The Save the Boobs video featured a large-chested, attractive, bikini-clad woman getting ogled by male onlookers at a pool party. The visuals feature close-ups of the woman’s chest, and even a wet t-shirt shot that I’m sure advertisers could not have gotten away with in the United States. To view the video, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI4zkx8As34. The overall message was the promotion of an annual event supported by ReThink Breast Cancer called Boobyball. http://boobyball.com.

This video is certainly not without controversy. Its strongest critics claim that the message is too flippant and resembles a beer commercial. http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=8648769. Also visit http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/09/22/2009-09-22_naughty_breast_cancer_awareness_ads_like_save_the_boobs_video_leave_some_viewers.html

Although I am usually one of these critics who looks down my nose at such commercials, I think it’s important to take a little insight from Malcom Gladwell’s The Tipping Point before I, and others like me, judge too quickly. The Tipping Point lends a valid explanation as to why this campaign went from just any other sex-driven commercial to the controversy it ultimately became. That explanation is that the video ‘tipped’ into such controversy because of three functions that cause social epidemics. These functions are the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor and the Power of Context.

Aliya Jasmine-Sovani, a host of Canada’s MTV affiliate, was the actress in this video, as well as the writer and co-producer. The Law of the Few holds that it takes just one charismatic, influential and social person to transmit a social epidemic to the masses. The message, on the other hand, has to have a ‘stickiness’ to it – it has to take a crucial step from just being memorable to actually having an impact. The combination of these characteristics are driven to further epidemic proportions when they occur in the right context. Basically, this campaign ‘tipped’ when a grave issue was packaged in a sexual context and delivered by a charismatic and popular television host. So when I viewed this message, I didn’t laugh and consider just another sex-in-advertising instance. It actually impacted me, and stuck.

So before we judge, I think it’s important to understand that this video was not just a gratuitous display of sexual content. It was an attention-grabbing tactic that focused on an important awareness message. I’m not convinced it was all that bad.

For more information on, or how to purchase The Tipping Point visit http://www.amazon.com/Tipping-Point-Little-Things-Difference/dp/0316346624.