Breast cancer is something that is affecting people around the world everyday today. It is important to be aware of this type of cancer, and the impact it has on people. However, it is also important to showcase what individuals are doing around the world to support it and also create awareness about it.
Awareness occurs every year during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. This month is dedicated all over the globe to assist people and educate individuals about breast cancer. At our high school we devote one football game every October to raise money for breast cancer. A few years back we had a student affected by this close to home. Through our marketing efforts we were able to raise money to support his mom! At high school level our efforts in include social media, t-shirt sales, and rally towels. Below is an example of how we were able to combine television and social media!
We also sometimes partner with local organizations to assist. One big supporter for us has been Jersey Mike’s! This is a business always willing to raise money for a variety of charities.
Memes is another way to raise breast cancer awareness. This blog has showcased the top 12 breast cancer memes. I personally thought this meme below really connected with how people are using social media to create awareness. Breast cancer is now its own brand. Or in other words “Pink is In.” I believe a lot of this branding has to do with social media and how people engage in the various diffusion- centric campaigns.
One of the most popular being the breast cancer Facebook memes where females where asked to put a single color as their status update. The message asked them to choose a color that was the same as the bra they were wearing. An status example would read Jamie, grey the hope was for men to log onto Facebook and be confused about all the color statuses. This intern would create awareness for breast cancer.
When using social media as a platform to create a social campaign you also need to be mindful of all the people that may be influenced or affected by your enagement ideas. “No Bra Day”—which was started by a plastic surgeon in Canada—encourages women to go braless and share their photos with the hashtag #nobraday to support the cause of breast cancer awareness. Over 82,000 women have complied by posting pics on Twitter and Instagram. However women were angry because #NoBraDay, they argue, is more about sexualizing breasts than raising cancer awareness. And if you look through the hashtag feed, it’s clear that many of those 82,000 photos are more about sexy poses than breast cancer.
So it is clear there are many ways you can create social awareness around a specific topic using social media. You just need to ensure you are sending the right message and using the right platform to connect with your audience.
It is also important you are doing it for the right reasons. You need to find an happy medium where you are able to create awareness, educate, and have a call to action to people. This is why for us at the high school level it is great to educate students about it using student-driven authentic learning experiences. The ripple event is students having fun and raising money for a great cause!
So next October remember “Pink is In!”
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