Rethink Breast Cancer is rethinking its newest advertising campaign after critics say it focuses too much on sex and too little on the dangers of the disease.
The ad, which features slow-motion footage of a woman wearing a bikini at a pool party, delivers the message, "You know you like them. Now it's time to save the boobs. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women ages 20 to 49."
Breast cancer survivor Robin Roberts described the ad as a "less is more" approach in a "Good Morning America" segment Wednesday. One woman interviewed on the show said it looked more like a Victoria's Secret ad than an ad about women's health.
It's true that the ad does bare some skin, but it reveals no more than Heidi Klum did for the "stripped" version of her Guitar Hero advertisement. And that was an ad for a video game, not a public service announcement about breast cancer.
Had the advertisement been for a new brand of beer, would it have sparked as much debate?
Let's face it. People respond to sex. Criticizing a public service announcement for showing too much skin will not change the fact that men (and women) like them.
Rethink Breast Cancer could have done without the zoomed in, slow-motion footage. But obviously it did the trick.
Let's just hope Rethink Breast Cancer remembers that the campaign should not be about saving breasts, but about saving lives.
