Now, THIS is a bold lingerie ad

Photo from Forever Yours "Bra School". H/T ABC

Elly Mayday is a Canadian model who, at the age of 25, is living with a rare form of ovarian cancer. A year ago, she was the star model for Forever Yours Lingerie of Vancouver. However, since her diagnosis last summer, her treatment has changed her appearance considerably and now she is... still the star model for Forever Yours Lingerie of Vancouver.

Via Forever Yours

Sonya Perkins, co-founder of Forever Yours Lingerie, told ABC news that she first hired Ms. Mayday for a Valentine's Day shoot in 2013. "At the time, she was a size 14 and had a nice bust and a small waist and big, full hips and behind," she said. "We wanted to represent that look." 

While Ms. Perkins was initially uneasy with Ms. Mayday's determination to keep working in front of the camera, she stood by her model. And now it is paying off.

"In the lingerie industry, it's not something you do," Elly Mayday explained. "It's all about long hair and big breasts and arched backs. But it's important to show what real women look like underneath their clothes. Most people have some issue they are dealing with."

Now, both model and brand are making headlines around the world. And the Elly Mayday fanpage on Facebook has almost 84,000 followers.

On posting the Forever Yours online ad on her page, Ms. Mayday was effusive in her appreciation of the support she's receiving from the lingerie brand and its customers:

It's a wonderful thing to have such caring people to work with. They have supported me through thick and thin — literally— sickness and health and are still with me today.  

As you can see this photo represents more than just a sports bra. Its represent the acceptance we all need to have for one another as well as ourselves. Thank you Sonya & Brian. Getting to know both of you has been a true blessing and you will always have a place in my heart for what you have done for me.  

Over 7,000 dollars was given to me to help me pay for unexpected costs, like my needles this week that cost $1000 not covered by provincial health care. I bought a new juicer and have been able to afford to eat organically as well. just to list a few things.. 

$2 from every pair of underwear sold as well as in-store and online donations. What an incredible gift. I am so blessed♥

I can never thank you enough for the support.pun intended

So, while American Eagle is getting virtual hugs and high fives for its commitment to not photoshopping its typical-looking models,  elsewhere there are brands and models who are willing to show us what it really takes to do something about the fashion industry's body image problem.

Update: Apologies to Sonja Perkins for initially calling her "Jenkins." It was an error compounded from the ABC article.

Maybe now the kids will know who Gilda was

Gilda Radner was an amazing person. A strong and defiant woman comedian, when women's liberation was just gaining steam. Loving spouse of colleague Gene Wilder. Author of a book that made my mom cry. And another person killed by cancer, in 1989.

Two years after Ms. Radner's death, a network of clubhouses where people living with cancer, their friends, and families could meet for support was founded. It was called "Gilda's Club". It was a fitting legacy.

Which is why I was saddened to read this week that some of the Gilda's Club affiliates, most notably the one in Madison, Wisconsin, decided to drop Gilda from the name and become the generic "Cancer Support Community".


“One of the realizations we had this year is that our college students were born after Gilda Radner passed, as we are seeing younger and younger adults who are dealing with a cancer diagnosis,” Lannia Syren Stenz, the club’s executive director, told Madison.com. “We want to make sure that what we are is clear to them and that there’s not a lot of confusion that would cause people not to come in our doors.”

The internet and mainsteam media reaction was swift and angry. One of the more articulate complaints came from film critic Richard Roeper in the Chicago Sun-Times:

Having co-hosted an annual Gilda’s Club fundraiser in Chicago on a number of occasions, yes, I’ve had to explain the name and the legacy of Gilda Radner more than a few times. So what? It’s an opportunity to tell people about the wonderful characters Radner created for “Saturday Night Live,” and the comedic trail she helped blaze for brilliant minds such as Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
...
Members of the freshman class at Walter Payton College Prep were just babies when Walter Payton died. Forty-year-olds stuck in traffic on the Kennedy Expressway hadn’t been born when JFK was assassinated. Across the country, hospital wings and expressways and community centers and schools and airports and churches and skyscrapers are named after individuals that impacted the world. Years ago. Decades ago. Centuries ago. This is what education is all about — teaching the lessons of the past. 

If a name change encourages even one additional young patient to seek comfort and support at one of these centers, it’s hard to argue against it. Nor am I suggesting anyone at those centers is disrespecting Ms. Radner’s memory. Obviously that’s not the intention.
But we are a better people when we honor and remember those that came before us, even if it means we have to take a breath, remind ourselves we were once young too — and explain yet again the story behind the name on the door.

Exactly. In today's media landscape, an opportunity to tell a great story is a great brand asset. The answer to "Who's Gilda" will educate a whole new generation about a person and a cause. And it's interesting to note in the places where that story took Gilda Radner — Toronto and Chicago with Second City, and New York City — have no intention to change the name of their Gilda's Clubs.

Perhaps we should thank the misjudgement of Madison's club, however. By claiming that Gilda Radner was not relevant to Millennials, they actually caused her current relevancy to go through the roof.

The sun will turn your girlfriend into her mother #FdAdFriday

Gwen Sharp at Sociological Images posted this weird PSA from the Belgian Cancer Foundation, translating the message as "ladies, if you don’t do what we say, you’ll be hideous and your guy won’t want you any more."



I am told that Belgian humour is pretty special, so perhaps this ad is taken differently there. Perhaps it's dating me, but from a purely instinctive position I don't find the moms to be unattractive.

The idea of sun damage prematurely aging skin is a solid one. But the risk is more than aging; it's damage. And cancer. And even death.

But that lacks candid camera hilarity, I guess.

Hope will beat cancer someday, Terry

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Terry Fox Run, artist Mike Zavacky (who is also an Art Director  at McMillan) created custom replicas of the original Marathon of Hope tee.

For those who don't know, Terry Fox was a Canadian national hero who lost a leg, as a young man, to a rare cancer. With a determination many of us can only dream about, in 1980 he attempted to run clear across Canada on his artificial leg to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. After 143 days and 5,373 kilometres, the disease struck him down again. He died in 1981.

The reason Canadians (even those born after his death) revere the memory of Terry is because his struggle represents something great about the human spirit. When he couldn't go on, he urged others to pick up the torch:

"Even if I don't finish, we need others to continue. It's got to keep going without me."

And so it has. Here is Zeke's shirt modelled by a little boy (who coincidentally looks a lot like me). He will wear it on his school's Terry Fox Run today.

Donate to the Terry Fox Run here. As the man himself said, “If you’ve given a dollar, you are part of the Marathon of Hope.”

F'd Ad Fridays: Vintage Coppertone ad lies terrible lies

I wonder whatever happened to that model?

I have to assume assume something like this. If she's even alive.

Ad Via Found in Mom's Basement

F'd Ad Fridays: I don't know what disturbs me most about this ad

Is it that it asks you to reach into a hold in someone's body and get unknown goop all over your hands, or the fact that the agency responsible is named "Cooch Creative"?

I know Australia has a real skin cancer problem, but damn that's gross!

Via Ads of The World

Drink a megajug of Pepsi, fight juvenile diabetes

Copyranter warns that this was found on Reddit, so no guarantees that it's real:

It says "Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation"...

Although it wouldn't be the first time that KFC has engaged in ironic CSR...

Tanning is still the new smoking

I called it last year, and stand by it: indoor tanning is on its way out. First, the whole Guido/Jersey Shore meme equated indoor tanning with being a douche. Then cancer authorities started a social marketing war against what they saw as an unhealthy practice. Then legislators got involved.

At this point, you might as well close up your tanning shop. The viral internet has cast final judgement on the orange look as an aesthetic - whether acquired from sun, bed or spray.

Trending this week:

Some new and highly-sharable video content from The Onion:

 

Some poor anonymous girl becomes the movement's poster child on BuzzFeed:

Via The Brain.

 Ouch. But at least she's among good company.

Or is she?

I thought you were supposed to cover up...

As Animal NY just reported, Marc Jacobs has enlisted Victoria’s Secret model Marisa Miller as his poster (okay, "t-shirt") woman for a campaign against skin cancer:

The campaign, which has previously featured Naomi Campbell, Heidi Klum, Victoria Beckham, Winona Ryder, Rufus Wainwright, Eva Mendes, Julianne Moore and Selma Blair in the raw, has raised over $1 million for Melanoma Research at the NYU Cancer Institute.

According to the campaign Facebook page:

"The public awareness generated by the T-shirt campaign is enormous, not to mention the funds that have been raised," says Dr. William L. Carroll, director of the NYU Cancer Institute, who notes that proceeds of the sales of the T-shirts benefit IMCG. "We are grateful for the generosity of Marc Jacobs and Robert Duffy in allowing the NYU Cancer Institute to focus on research and advancing clinical care."

The campaign was started bu Jacobs and his business partner, Robert Duffy, in 2006. Duffy is melanoma survivor.

But is showing skin really the best approach for skin cancer, rather than encouraging fair people to cover up?

At least they can wear the t-shirt to the beach.

Smoked Turkey

I know my American readers are getting ready for their (oddly late) Thanksgiving tomorrow, so I won't hold you up. I just want to remind you, via this vintage ad from Sociological Images, that nothing goes as well with good food, good company and good times, like a malodorous and carcinogenic roll of burning leaves.

[click image for larger version]

Man, I'm sure the days of tobacco advertising that normalizes smoking as part of a hip and righteous lifestyle are over. Right Camel?

Or maybe not.

Take care, and have a happy and healthy day off.

Busting out the double entendres for breast cancer

I got word last weekend from MTV Canada's Aliya Jasmine Sovani, better known to the world as the star of last year's controversial and popular "Save The Boobs" video, that this year's promo video is out.

Interestingly, after last year's swimsuit edition provoked controversy over the sexualization of breast cancer, this year the Boobyball crew decided to take a more humorous approach to promoting their Rethink Breast Cancer charity party:



Okay, so it's pretty goofy. But at least they had some fun with the send-up of 70s porn.

Unfortunately, as of this writing, the video is still unavailable on YouTube. I can only imagine that MTV, after seeing diverse postings of last year's video getting hundreds of thousands of hits, decided that all that traffic should be directed to their corporate site.

The problem is, the video is not easy to share or embed. This will inevitably lead to far fewer views, and far less awareness for this year's event.

F-f-f-f- [THIS POST CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE]

You were warned.

Last November, I blogged about a tough new Canadian Cancer Society campaign that I summed up as "fuck you, cancer!"

Now, there's a fundraising site that conveys the message even more directly:



letsfcancer.com, designed by Vancouver's pacwebco, invites visitors to buy "f— cancer" t-shirts, donate to their educational mission, share the site on social media, or post your own "fuck you" to cancer on their wall — as text, image or video.

Here's mine:



And Mom, I'm sorry for the language. But at least in this case it's well-justified. And it feels pretty good. You should try it.

1. Parade in underpants 2. ? 3. Fight cancer

Yesterday, I responded to a Facebook ad to strip down to my underwear for a good cause. (Who wouldn't?) It landed me at The Underwear Affair, a 5-city Canadian fundraising event "to fight cancers below the waist" (prostate, ovarian, and colorectal).


(More pics here)

The event takes place in Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. Being an Ottawa guy, I clicked on my local link to find out more. It's going on here this year on September 11 (odd choice) and has two events, a 10K run or 5K walk, for participants of all ages. The recipient is the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation.

The idea of the event is to be as fun, sexy or silly as possible.



(This one's from the original American version, in L.A.)

The Ottawa launch event, held on Sparks Street, is on YouTube:



As is the (stealth? 17 views?) promo video:



They also have a national Facebook Group and Twitter feed. The main corporate sponsor is Mark's Work Wearhouse.

So, will you get yer gitch on and join the cause? There is certainly no shortage of opportunities to do silly things to fight cancer. This particular one seems to have a lot of support out west, although the Ottawa media uptake seems a little underwhelming so far.

But then again, one should never underestimate the powerful combination of partial nudity and an important cause.

Kim's appeal is right on target

While I've been focussing my energies on fight women's heart disease through Joannie Rochette's crusade at iheartmom.ca, I can't face Mother's Day without remembering that breast cancer continues to be a major priority for women. And I especially can't avoid a message from a woman from my past: Kim Cattrall



Many of you younger folk know this Canadian from her role on Sex and the City, but I remember her best for an earlier role in Porky's:



Let's just say she made a lasting impression on 12-year-old me. And she continues to be a star with a lot of appeal for both men and women.

Kim still gets her point across loud and clear in this message for Fashion Targets Breast Cancer, a fashion industry charity drive to raise funds for Rethink Breast Cancer.



Here in Canada, Supermarket clothing label Joe is the sponsor.

Back to our own celebrity campaign, thanks to the continued endorsement of Joannie Rochette, our iheartmom video is close to 4000 views, and the English and French Cause pages have almost 900 members each!

If you haven't checked out iheartmom.ca yet, do it now. We've added an option to donate to fight women's heart disease on your mom's behalf, and send a Mother's Day card letting her know. Can you imagine a better way to show your love?

"My eyes are up here"

Regular readers know that cancer awareness and prevention social marketing is a topic close to my heart. So when I caught this adorably simple Belgian campaign on Osocio's Facebook fanpage, I just had to post it here:



As part of the 2010 outreach for the Campagne de dépistage du cancer du sein en Communauté française de Belgique, it targets older women, and includes print collateral and a postcard campaign for loved ones:



Nice, witty approach that doesn't stray into shock or prurience. And it's almost hypnotic...

What's the best way to fight cancer in advertising?

Regular readers of this blog know how much I hate cancer. So as a social marketer, I'm constantly trying to come to terms with what's the best way to raise awareness and funds to fight the sneaky bastard.

You can attack it head-on, as the Canadian Cancer Society has. You can frighten people about consequences of dangerous behaviour, like indoor tanning, or smoking, or you can spend a little of your ego to get people talking about things such as breast, prostate, or colon cancer.

All of these approaches have their supporters and their detractors. Some dislike shock advertising, while others find silly activities inappropriate for such a serious issue.

Breast cancer is a particularly sensitive issue, since like other women-specific diseases, it brings gender politics into play.

It is in this context that I bring you an interesting gallery of "Bizarre Breast Cancer Ads", from the momlogic blog.

It runs from the unexpected:



To the scary:



To the, ummmm, Freudian:



To the silly:



To the sick:



What do you think is the best way to attack the issue? Or does every little effort help?

On another note, I am pleased to announce that I am also now a contributor to Osocio, a great collaborative blog for the latest in "social advertising" (what I call "social issues marketing") all around the world. If you don't already follow it, please do.

Branding's Bad Side

.
[After today's post, Change Marketing will take a short March Break. I'll be back next week.]



Just over three years ago, R.J. Reynolds decided it needed to capture a greater share of the young, fashionable and female smoking public. After all, if up-trending rates of lung cancer among American women are anything to go by, it's a growing market.

And thus Camel No.9 was born: A sleek, pink, and pretty cigarette brand that sold itself in fashion magazines. Cool, eh?

However, people noticed something funny about this brand. Why were they marketing their smokes using teeny-bopper giveaways like glitter stickers and cell phone accessories? And what kind of adult is this promotion aimed at?


(via Sociological Images)

Well, a recent study by Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego has the answer. They conducted five phone interviews about cigarette awareness and use between 2003 and 2008 with 1,036 males and females who were 10 to 13 years old.

One interesting finding was that youth who had never smoked before, but who named a favorite cigarette ad at the beginning of the study, were 50% more likely to start smoking later on.

That makes the other major finding all the more distressing:

"The number of boys with a favorite ad was stable across all five surveys. For girls, however, it was stable across the first four surveys, but by the fifth survey, which took place after the start of the Camel No. 9 campaign, the proportion of girls who reported a favorite ad jumped by 10 percentage points, to 44 percent. The Camel brand accounted almost entirely for this increase."

Study lead John P. Pierce, PhD, professor of Family and Preventive Medicine and director of the Cancer Center’s Cancer Prevention and Control Program, commented: “This national study demonstrated that the Camel No. 9 campaign had a huge impact on young adolescent girls across the country, effectively encouraging them to smoke.”

He also points out that the results go against the Tobacco Industry's agreement with U.S. State Attorneys General not to target adolescents with advertising.

What do you think? Can R.J. Reynolds actually plead ignorance on this one, and claim that they weren't targeting teenage girls?



Bling it on, indeed.

Is Fake 'n' Bake the new smoking?

Caught a Newswire yesterday that The Canadian Dermatology Association has launched a new campaign to raise awareness about the risks of tanning beds:



There are also print ads:




The campaign site includes video files of the PSAs, as well as printable PDFs of the print ads/posters. And it has in-depth stories behind the women of the campaign.

From the news release:

"Indoor tanning before the age of 30 has been associated with a significant increase in the risk of melanoma, and recently sunbeds (UV tanning beds) were moved up to the highest cancer risk category - group 1 - 'carcinogenic to humans' by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer.

'Research shows 70 percent of indoor tanners are female, primarily 16 to 29 years old. Indoor tanning at this age increases the risk of developing skin cancer. It is very important for women to be aware of the risks of artificial tanning,' said Cheryl Rosen, dermatologist and national director of CDA's Sun Awareness Program.

...

The posters feature actual melanoma survivors who are urging their peers to learn the facts about indoor tanning. In each case, the women thought tanning made them look beautiful but they had no idea that in a few short years they would be battling melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer."

It's an important message — and given the facts quite a timely social marketing effort. But is it the right approach?

If we are to look at the issue in Acart's own SIMPl model, for younger target markets indoor tanning as a major cancer risk would be all the way to the left, in the "uninformed" zone:



(That is, if you're not old enough to remember when the even nastier old-school beds went out of fashion.)

Our communications strategy for this would be "to focus on informing target audiences about the basic facts". That's standard. But I wonder if the creative is strong enough to even get people's attention for that long.

Testimonial can be a powerful thing. And these women's stories are truly moving. But the problem with health testimonials is that they tend to take a standard format. Whether on TV, print, or radio, they all start to look and sound the same.

In print, I think these ads try to say too much, when they should say one surprising thing about UV risk and say it SIMPLY and LOUD. Same with the TV — one story, with some buildup and reveal would be enough to get people making the connection and seeking out more info.

The biggest barrier to getting the public to take a new (to them) hazard seriously is cynicism. When faced with endless (and similar) campaigns, it's easy to tune out the less common messages, and dismiss them as hysteria.

I really do hope this message gets through to people, because I really hate cancer. But I think this issue has a lot of work ahead of it if it's going to be the new smoking.

F*ck you, Cancer!

This is my kind of cause marketing campaign: It's meaningful, street-level, message-driven, and has kickass attitude:



It's part of the Canadian Cancer Society's "Fight Back" campaign. I haven't been able to track down the ad agency responsible, [update: a commenter tells me it's DDB Canada] but I wish I had done this campaign. It's been up around town for several weeks now, yet it keeps getting my attention.



The reason I'm so keen on the tone is that, like many Canadians, I have lost loved ones to cancer. Both my maternal Grandparents succumbed to it, too young, and it eventually got the best of my paternal Grandmother — even though she lived strong with thyroid cancer to the age of 98.

I find that people who deal with the spectre of cancer in the family tend to react in one of two ways: Either in hushed tones, as a taboo subject, or with righteous anger.

I am one of the latter group. It may seem irrational to anthropomorphize a cellular disease, but even misplaced anger is a great motivation. My mother tells me the story of how my uncle, a family doctor, was prone to fits of rage against inanimate objects when he realized he could not save their mother's life. But he remained a vigilant and committed fighter against the disease for the rest of his career. I imagine many researchers are driven by the same fire.





















Through activities like Movember or our Breast Aware Day last month, I've participated in some of the goofier consciousness-raising efforts. But for me it's a particularly vengeful form of satire.

Beneath my cheesy, sparsely-sprouting moustache, you should be able to hear me muttering:

"Fuck you, Cancer!"