This provocative campaign turns a familiar online request into a powerful reminder.
Call me a cynic. (Most journalists are, or at least the good ones.) But whenever anyone starts to wax lyrical about the liberating power of digital technology, I remind them that one of the things the internet is used for most is porn. In fact, it’s pornified (if that’s a word) our culture so deeply that when I use a phrase like “send nudes”, everyone knows what I’m talking about.
I would, I hasten to add, never use that phrase myself, at least not in polite company. But this Breast Cancer Awareness Month, female-owned and led creative agency Yard NYC has hijacked it for an even more wholesome reason.
The agency is literally asking women to take topless selfies, not for a partner or a stranger, though, but for the good of their health.
The point of the campaign is that by keeping a regular photo record of their breasts, women can spot changes over time, which might be an early sign of breast cancer.
The twist, then, is that the request is very much to “send nudes”… but only to yourself.
Know your own body
Research shows that breast cancer rates are rising twice as fast among women under 50 as among women aged 50 and over, and 85% of women diagnosed have no family history of breast cancer. What’s more, women in their 30s tend to think of breast cancer as an “older” woman’s problem. In this light, taking photos of their breasts on a regular basis could be a lifesaver.
It’s a personal issue for Yard NYC’s CEO and co-founder, Ruth Bernstein. Her own experience with early breast cancer taught her that there are visual signs that can help women detect changes early.
“We know every line on our face, every grey hair on our heads, every squish on our bellies,” she says. “Culturally, we’re obsessed with all these other bodily changes, but we don’t even notice our own tits. So what if we turned the familiar language of sending nudes into a reminder to know your own boobs?”
Hitting the streets
The campaign is being spread through wild postings around New York, at busy spots such as North 7th and Bedford in Williamsburg and near Dimes Square on the Lower East Side. Bold black “SEND NUDES” headlines alternate with tasteful topless photos of women, each with a QR code covering their chest.
Scan the code to land on sendnudestoyourself.com, which explains the point of the exercise and lays out the visible signs to look for. These include a new difference in the size or shape of one breast, flaky skin on the breast, redness or a rash on the breast, orange-peel texture on the breast skin, nipple discharge, a lump in the breast or armpit, breast dimpling and nipples that invert or change direction.
Normalising the check-up
“Send Nudes is about empowerment,” says Caroline Seklir, chief strategy officer of Yard NYC. “Women are surrounded by messages about how our breasts should look, but far fewer reminders to actually know what our own breasts look like.
“The idea is that we’re normalising this for a new generation of women that are coming of age in a selfie-driven world, and giving them the power of awareness on their own terms—long before they’re of age for a mammogram.”
Some might think it crude or offensive. But I’d suggest that by speaking the language of its audience, the campaign is far more likely to cut through. And isn’t that the most important thing here?
Send Nudes runs until the end of October, with a social campaign also running across Yard NYC’s Instagram and LinkedIn.
