TORONTO - From ample to petite, bra-clad to bare-chested, a succession of snapshots of female breasts line the wall of the online gallery.
Sliding the cursor across the photos, the images become obscured behind a bright pink background and messages typed in white text spring to the fore. It quickly becomes evident the photos are far removed from the typically titillating scantily clad fare readily accessible on the web.
"Four-year survivor," writes a woman identified as Janet.
The photo shows her right breast bare. The left breast is gone.
"I'm a pink flamingo!" writes Shannon, sporting a fluorescent pink boa over her bare bosom. "This is for all the women that have been affected by breast cancer... let's find a cure.
Pink ribbons and fundraising runs are among the familiar symbols in heightening awareness of breast cancer.
But several recent marketing campaigns are going even further by using provocative ads and online initiatives to inform the public about the disease, in a bid to distinguish themselves from the pack while connecting with a younger demographic.
Such is the case with The Booby Wall, a virtual, interactive exhibit of breasts recently launched by charity Rethink Breast Cancer and Schick Quattro for Women.
As of Monday, the site has had more than 450,000 unique visitors from more than 100 countries. Close to 600 images have been uploaded, and the site provides information on Rethink's TLC -- Touch, Look, Check - approach to breast awareness, which includes encouraging women to be mindful of changes in size, shape, texture in breasts as well as checking for lumps.
"There's been so much awareness about breast cancer that sometimes you need to shake it up a little bit because young women can become immune to the message," said MJ DeCouteau, executive director of Rethink Breast Cancer.
"You see the pink ribbon everywhere, and they know it's an important cause, but they do need that reminder to actually take action."
Anything that's new and different that people find inherently interesting can be used as leverage to get your message across, said Robin Ritchie, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Western Ontario's Richard Ivey School of Business.
"Nowhere is that more important than as social cause advertising because people inherently don't need to pay attention to this. It's not like, 'I need a car, so I'll pay attention to car advertising,"' he said from London, Ont.
"It's particularly important, I think, for charities like this to find interesting ways to get people to pay attention, and certainly something this cheeky might be a little riskier for a commercial marketer."
"I think because they are unmistakably a good cause, they can afford to take a little more licence than a commercial marketer might be able to."
John Peloza, an assistant professor of marketing at Simon Fraser University, said more than the irreverence of the campaign, one of the interesting things is its use of the online medium to draw the user.
"It's not a social networking site per se but it's highly involving," he said.
"It's the reason why blogs have become popular. It's the reason why social networking sites have become popular - people want to tell their stories."
A recent cross-Canada initiative by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation in Chatelaine magazine had four main messages about risk reduction on a card using visual tie-ins: getting active(tennis balls), eating well (apples), limiting alcohol (cocktail umbrellas) and living smoke-free (two empty ashtrays). It also drives users to the web for more information on reducing their risk.
Focus testing revealed 95 per cent of respondents said the card was a good way to communicate ideas about healthy lifestyle and liked the way the message was presented, said Sharon Wood, CEO of the foundation's Ontario region.
"We see the importance of creative breast health messaging because we believe back to that idea we have to move beyond awareness to actual knowledge," Wood said. "If the creative messaging drives people to some new information and knowledge that they're going to understand ... that would be our goal."
As for the Booby Wall, DeCouteau said she is aware some may come to the site merely for the titillation factor but isn't concerned.
"It's clear that it's a breast cancer initiative, so our hope is that even if their original intention was perhaps unsavoury that it's going to at least click with them, 'Wow, there are women out there that are dealing with this disease,' and we've even seen some of the women with mastectomies are posting their pictures, so hopefully that's going to resonate with everyone who visits the site."
