Quote:
Originally Posted by Jambi
Normally, I don't buy into these things, but this one gave me a change of heart. Its fun, and it definately gets the message across.
Today, a friend of mine posted on her facebook wall, saying how she didn't know what the whole colour thing was about. To which some stupid person responded to with this:
"it's dumb b*tches posting their bra colour to raise awareness of breast cancer...don't ask them how it helps fight breast cancer in any way tho. they aren't really sure.
spoiler alert: it doesn't"
Something about that got me so pissed off, between the ignorance and the sheer stupiditiy, I had to give this guy (no idea who he is) a piece of my cyber-mind.
ME :...Pretty sure you explained the reasoning yourself.
How does it fight cancer? By raising AWARENESS of breast cancer.
Why do schools make students walk on Terry Fox day? Why do we see multitudes of people walking around with a different coloured ribbon on their chests?
spoiler alert: AWARENESS.
I don't know who you are, but ignorance is the reason why we need awareness in the first place.
I support these "dumb b*tches", not because I'm some kind of humanitarian, but because its just the morally right thing to do."
Internet tough-guy forever  |
The problem is that raising "awareness" in and of itself is completely meaningless (and honestly, who isn't aware of breast cancer by now? They've marketed themselves so well that whenever I see a pink product of any kind I immediately associate it with breast cancer regardless if any such association exists or not).
I've taken several marketing and public relations courses at UofC, and one of the first things they teach in every class is that "raising awareness" is
never a valid metric for any campaign. You have to change behaviour, and that's why this stupid Facebook meme is a failure. The message should have said, "Post the colour of your bra in your status, and when you're finished that, remember to do your monthly breast self-exam! You can also donate to the Breast Cancer Society by following the link below."
That would have been infinitely more effective. Instead, this campaign trivialized an important health issue and turned it into an opportunity for women to flirt with everyone on Facebook. My wife (age 30) reacted to receiving the private message thusly, "How old are these people, 12? 'Tee-hee, look at me, I'm wearing a
bra! LOL'"