The campaign was pulled after it received backlash online.
Credit: Special arrangement
A breast cancer awareness campaign has drawn criticism online for using oranges as an euphemism for breasts. Netizens point out that it is insensitive and perpetuates the shame and stigma surrounding the topic, while others believe it is an effective way to get people talking.
Metrolife spoke to experts in semiotics and visual communication, and advertising professionals to weigh in on the debate.
Asha Indi, a 67-year-old breast cancer survivor, labels the campaign ‘insulting’. “Call it a ‘breast’, just as you would call other body parts by their name. The breast is integral to the nourishment of babies, one should be proud of it,” states the retired teacher.
Using more meaningful motifs, such as a flowering tree with its roots would have been more tasteful, believes Anagha Gunjal Reddy, an advertising professional. “The breast has glands that go all the way up to the chest. It would have been more meaningful to use that imagery,” she explains.
Calling the campaign ‘disturbing’, Saurabh Das, a professor of semiotics and visual culture, says the answer is not to dramatise it but to be objective. “Let’s call a spade a spade, instead of romanticising or objectifying a spade. Call a penis, a ‘penis’, a vagina, a ‘vagina’,” he shares.
It is important to normalise it and this sensitisation should begin at home and in the primary education system, he believes.
Using statistics to bring people’s attention to how widespread the disease is can be equally powerful. “Numbers can speak for themselves,” he elaborates.
While Bhavna S, a visual communication professor, does not see any issue with the campaign, she understands how it can be considered inappropriate and a trivialisation of a serious health problem. “They could have used abstract shapes like circles or medical diagrams. These would focus on the health aspect and may reduce any discomfort or criticism that can come with metaphorical imagery,” she shares.
What Happened?
A breast cancer awareness campaign by former cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s not-for-profit YouWeCan went viral for the wrong reasons earlier this week. The AI-generated ad, spotted on a coach in a Delhi metro train, shows a young woman holding oranges on a bus. She is surrounded by older women. A crate of oranges occupies the foreground. The tagline reads ‘Check your oranges once a month. Early detection saves lives. #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth’.
While the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) pulled the ad following the backlash, the foundation came out in defence of the campaign. Responding to a post calling them out on a social media platform, they argued that it was a ‘bold creative choice’ and was ‘carefully thought through’.
According to medical experts, self-examination can be conducted once every month. Medical exams are to be conducted 1 to 3 years from ages 25–39, and every year for ages 40 and up. Contact your gynaecologist for more information.