It’s Friday, Edmonton. Woot.
Now, I’m all for breast cancer awareness. I think anything to get the word out on cancers, to get people thinking about finding ways to raise money to pay for science to save us, is great.
I was, however, a little confused by all the ladies in my Facebook world telling me the colour of their bra yesterday. Sure, I’ve got an idea of what colour bra I could get them for next Christmas, but did I have any idea what they were talking about at first? No. And I’m not alone.
Trust me, I'm a bra doctor.
This makes me think about how this started…
“Good day, Facebook bosses, I’m Dr. Boobs McGillicuddy and I want you to help me help women. I can help fight breast cancer if girls tell me what colour bra they’re wearing.
Come on, tell me what colour bra you’re wearing. It’s for medicine!”
Let’s hope I’m wrong, and this isn’t some guy having a laugh (or grosser things) at so many people’s expenses.
Hey look, there’s news today too.
Alta not Canada’s top jailer after all (Come on guys, just stand still so I can count you for this Statistics Canada survey. Then you can go back to your cells.)
U of A student group pitches all-year U-Pass (If they’re in class I’m fine with it.)
Strathcona not surprised by power-line location plan
Deep Freeze festival a good way to thaw the winter blues (Sure it’s winter in Edmonton but you can still go outside and play.)
Can’t decide on a mattress? Now you can sleep on it. (Genius.)
Private sector may build and run new LRT lines
City open to plastic bag clampdown: councillor (Will the industry heed the call to take this into their own hands?)
Gun, domestic abuse major issue in rural Alberta: Stats data
$2-million lotto win for Edmonton-area woman
‘Big stepping stone’ not enough for housing
Impaired drivers more impaired than before: Police (It’s great to know the drunk drivers on Edmonton streets are really, really drunk.)
Peace officers board Edmonton buses after drivers attacked
Alberta’s job market numbers improve
Edmonton website draws anti-prorogue protesters (Is the Internet helping kill some political apathy?)
Building owners facing order to restore elevators
Woman Edmonton’s 1st homicide of 2010 (I went with CBC for this story because it was the first one I saw that didn’t call this a murder. The death is a homicide. When someone is convicted of the crime of murder you can call it that.)
Quesnel Bridge revamp already $5.7M over budget
Preparations underway for return of fallen Edmonton-based soldiers
If it came from those promoting breast cancer awareness and not some guy with a fetish, it has helped to create awareness, and yes, a certain amount of titillation along the way. It got people talking, which is more than most ad campaigns ever do.
In using social media as a marketing tool you have to remember that you can’t control it once it’s out there, nor should you try. It takes on a life of its own.
In this case, people are talking about it, which is more than usually happens. Even the debate over how effective it really was says something about how effective it actually was.
i’m noticing a distinct lack of hilarious puns in the headlines today… what up, Edmonton’s news media? you’re off your game!
Also, it’s nice to see that the city clamping down on Happy Hour pricing has worked so well!
And by “well” I of course mean “exactly the opposite of the intended effect, yet precisely what everyone who’s ever been to a bar on a Friday night warned them would happen”.
Alain you do realize that ultimately it’s still doing nothing even if people are talking about it?
Do you honestly believe that it’s raising awareness? Running into somebody nowadays that DOESN’T know about Breast Cancer is like running into someone who doesn’t know that chocolate has milk in it. I guess we can call it the new activism: slacktivism.
Instead of posting a bra color how about directing people where they can openly donate to help the cause?
http://www.cbcf.org/
Next up: Raising awareness for testicular cancer! Men; post your underwear color!
Prepare for the floods of “brown & white.”
Derjis, I agree with your point on the Happy Hour pricing. Like so many other government initiatives to crack down on things they target the resulting problem and not the issue (here it would be alcoholism, over-serving, lack of police checkstops, lax punishment, etc…).
Also, one small note, it was the provincial government that changed the rules.
On boobs…awareness is great, and coming up with new ways to raise it (and raise money) is even better. If that was the case here the status would have probably been more like this:
Jeff Samsonow Blue with frilly lace. http://www.cbcf.org
Then the link would have answered people’s questions and put them right in front of a place to help.