Giving Beast
More Giving BeastSave the Boobs!
Danielle Friedman has worked as a nonfiction book editor for Hudson Street Press and Plume, two imprints of Penguin Group. Her writing has been published in the Miami Herald, and on DoubleX and CNN.com. She is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
A new generation of women's health ads feature male actors giving the gift of a Pap smear, or ogling boobs in the name of breast cancer. Danielle Friedman on why the gross-out strategy is working.
Two prime-time actors cracking jokes about Pap smears. Shirtless guys ogling boobs, in the name of breast-cancer awareness. Jack Black giving himself a mammogram (yes, mammogram) on camera. A teenage boy pondering the hassles of periods.
No, these aren’t wacky new Saturday Night Live sketches. They’re ad campaigns for women’s health that target, feature, or otherwise engage men. And collectively, they mark a distinct shift in advocacy groups’ approach to spreading awareness about women’s issues—daring to cross over into a testosterone-fueled territory that previous campaigns rarely have.
Click Here to See Our Video Gallery of Testosterone-Fueled Women's Health Ads.
Still, they got people talking.
“The moment you say ‘PSA’ people’s eyes glaze over,” says Matthew Margo, executive producer of CBS Cares and VP of program practices in New York, who wrote and produced the spots with help from Massachusetts General Hospital. “There’s been viewer tune-out to conventional health messages. Targeting men on a women’s health issue is part of connecting with viewers differently, in unexpected ways.”
Just a few decades ago, discussing women’s cancers in public was taboo. But with the rise of the women’s movement and organizations like the Susan G. Komen Foundation, an empowering “pink” discourse began around breast cancer and other diseases—though the advocacy message was almost entirely voiced by women.
“In trying to make men comfortable talking about these things, [the ad campaigns] are doing what women did so successfully among themselves with respect to breast cancer,” says Barron Lerner, author of The Breast Cancer Wars and a medical historian, physician, and professor at Columbia University. “The American Cancer Society has been using celebrities for cancer awareness since the late 1940s. But in the early days, they would never have had a man doing ads for breast cancer.”
But in addition to engaging men, the new strategy's playful humor has sparked debate. “On one hand, cute slogans and sex appeal make talking about breast cancer less of a drag, and encourage youth support,” Kate Dailey wrote on Newsweek.com in October. “On the other hand, breast cancer is a serious disease.”
One woman who has helped to usher in the male-focused PSA trend is Noreen Fraser, a survivor living with Stage IV breast cancer and the founder of Men for Women Now, a celebrity-driven nonprofit that raises funds, supports research, and spreads awareness of women’s cancers. Fraser, a former producer of Entertainment Tonight and the product of a big, largely male Irish family, says she’s always valued the advice of the men in her life.
“Men are kind of marginalized when it come to women’s cancers,” Fraser says. “It’s been promoted by Susan Komen [and other groups] that women should rely on their girlfriends. But why shouldn’t men stand up for women’s cancers?”
Since founding Men for Women Now in April, Fraser has convinced A-list friends like Jack Black, Zach Galifianakis, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, and Kevin Connolly to film creative, irreverent PSAs for women’s health, pro-bono. (For those who thought CBS’s Pap smear spots were shocking, check out Bob Saget’s vulgar ad.) In the pipeline for next year? A Pap smear ad starring Will Ferrell.
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AmericanPackMule
Cancer is a foe! The sooner detected, the better. But, so much more to learn... The funding that has all ready been spent, is enormous.
Shah98
Too much knowledge about boobs could be a 'bomb'!!!
thelmakau
I hope the title "Save the Boobs"catches the attention of men to the article and to the issue of women's health. I'm somewhat discouraged by the indifference among some men. Hurry up, guys, get familiar with issues that life sometimes forces us to deal with.
Has there been any objection to the title thusfar from the whales?
SEXYADOLF9391
I wish God woman a lot of women who want good boobs get the good boobs woman want. A lot of women could save a
lot of money on breast implants.
keekee77
As a woman I can tell you I'm so sick of hearing about women's health I could hurl. I really don't need Jack Black to tell me to get a mammogram. I can take responsibility for my own health. Yet according to these stupid ads, we need ogling men to motivate us to take responsibility for ourselves! How GD patronizing. But then I suppose we women are so stupid we need a bunch of men to tell us to get a pap smear.
So what's the point of these ads anyway? Keep our tits healthy because men like to look at them? Jesus H.
Any why is women's health so much more important than men's health? You don't see men crying around about their prostates and expecting Cambell's soup to put blue ribbons on their cans. Men don't cry and expect pro-ball players to play with blue bats. You know why? Because men aren't a bunch of silly, self obsessed little girls, that's why.
No wonder men don't take us seriously. All these silly women and their silly boobs, and silly wombs and silly issue.
Shut up already and start acting like you have some balls why don't you. Sigh. Its sad when even we women use he word "pussy" as an insult but even we recognize with lingo such as "act like you have some balls" that men are simply stronger and more reasonable.
Sad but true bitches.
samobeachguy
Hear you but maybe this campaign will motivate the segment of the population you've pointed out. As a long time HIV educator the most frustrating group for me are those that suffer from incredibly low self esteem. Those that simply refuse to take precautions because their partner may not like it or find them less desireable - even when they know their partner is HIV !! BTW, anger does not work with this group. Peace.
DoctorSean
A NEW Breast Cancer Therapy, that uses elements of the "Star Wars" Defense System can destroy large breast cancer tumors and reduce the need for mastectomy by 90 percent. Cool stuff. University of Oklahoma researchers. Link is below. It is being used now.
www.healthapalooza.com
http://www.healthapalooza.com
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