Save The Boobs: PSA Or TMI?

I’m on the fence about in-your-face public service announcements, as my prior post on sugary soda indicates. But this one, called “Save the Boobs”, which you can watch on ABC News, really takes shock ads to a new level. Jiggling breasts, referred to as ‘tatas’, ‘cheechees’ and etc. and women in skimpy bikinis make this look more like a beer commercial than the breast cancer awareness spot it actually is.

So I’d like to ask – do you find this campaign a good way to bring awareness to young women about the dangers of breast cancer? After my earlier post in which I took a stand against shock ads, saying I thought they treated us like children instead of adults, some of the commenters had me thinking twice, and I am now leaning toward saying anything that has people tuning in is a good thing. However…

I’d really like to see women treat their bodies with a sense of sacredness. It took me, personally, a long time to come to a place where I didn’t refer to my breasts as ‘t*ts’ or ‘boobs’ or any of those other derogatory terms. And while I think the lighthearted ad is funny, I don’t think it’s so great for our public service announcements to be advocating anything that demeans women. The ad seemed to walk a fine line, and I’m not sure if it came down on the side of feminist principles. (Read the full ABC story here.)

Will it save feminine lives? Only future studies will show.

What’s your opinion? Do you think these shock PSA’s are the only way to keep the public’s focus on important causes? Or do you believe this is exploiting the very people it’s meant to be saving?

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