It was meant to promote conversation and fund-raising for breast cancer, but the #ShowYourStrap campaign by British retail giant Marks&Spencer has backfired spectacularly on the Web
The plan was simple — get women to post selfies showing their bra straps and also donate £3 (approx Rs 300) towards cancer research. All that effort however, has gone up in smoke with thousands describing the campaign, as “ill-timed” and “insensitive”.
Adding to the outrage are cancer survivors who slammed the campaign for merely sexualising the disease. They retaliated with their own #ShowYourScar.
“What about people who’ve had double mastectomies and don’t wear bras? Or men? Breast cancer affects them too, and none of them have bra straps to show,” asked 31-year-old Briton Kim Feast, who beat breast cancer last year.
“How about #showyourscar instead of your strap. That’s the reality of breast cancer — scars. Not straps,” wrote another user under the new hashtag.
Back home in Hyderabad, docs and survivors have expressed shock. “This is absolutely ridiculous,” says Dr Vijay Anand Reddy, director, Apollo Cancer Hospital, who also conducts cancer outreach programmes at the schools and colleges.
“Having models and people on board, who have never experienced the trauma of cancer and having a selfie campaign online is seriously trivialising a very serious issue. I do not support such a campaign on any level. For survivors, it’s even embarassing as scars from cancer are more than just physical and people take time to recover emotionally. We should speak in an equally serious voice while promoting conversation on such topics.”
Equally stunned is oncologist Dr. Srinivas Chilukuri from the Yashoda hospitals. “My goodness. I agree with the promoting conversation part but a campaign involving bra straps and models shouldn’t be the trigger for serious talk. Women who have gone bald, women who have lost breasts, go through very testing times. Plus, there’s a cultural implication... I don’t know how well this campaign will go down in conservative countries and multi-nationals must keep that in mind. Otherwise, why even take it online? Talking about cancer should involve sensitivity and a genuine attempt at keeping the trivial out of it.”
Meanwhile, Indian classical dancer Ananda Shankar Jayant, who survived a bout with cancer in 2008 said such campaigns are “tarnishing the reputations” of people who are working seriously to spread the message. “I mean, if you put out a video and share your experiences to inspire others... that’s something effective. I have done that often. If an effort is made with good intentions, it will work. More importantly, about these campaigns, if you look at their life expectancy in public consciousness, it’s not very long. That means, they aren’t even intended to last for long, they are for the momentary."
“Campaigns like these are just unnecessary.”
