Breast cancer is a serious health issue, and early detection is key to saving lives. However, a recent breast cancer awareness campaign by Yuvraj Singh’s YouWeCan Foundation has sparked controversy.
A promotional poster was spotted inside a Delhi Metro coach, showing a young woman holding oranges and an elderly woman with a crate of the fruit. The campaign encouraged women to “check your oranges once a month”.
Instead of explicitly mentioning ‘breasts’, they chose to use the word ‘oranges’ instead.
This left several people online disappointed. This raises an important point about how breast cancer awareness should be spread. Using vague like “oranges” to describe a life-threatening condition is dismissive or confusing. Ads as important as this should never shy away from addressing the issue directly. Calling breasts what they are – breasts – is essential for creating clear, respectful, and educational messages.
Here’s what people had to say:
I hv a problem with this ad at Delhi Metro. My own loving dear mother died of Breast Cancer, which was Stage 4 at diagnosis. The irony was her son(me) ws a Breast Surgeon at that time, & out of modesty, she did not even tell her own son, when it ws a small lump, that ws… pic.twitter.com/U32P2euu6Z
— Dr Jaison Philip. M.S., MCh (@Jasonphilip8) October 22, 2024
Ah, the noble quest for social responsibility! Kudos to you all for tackling such a crucial issue! Who wouldn’t want to raise awareness about a disease affecting millions of women? But hold your horses guys, “Get your oranges checked once a month,” might just go down in history… pic.twitter.com/M3nhvpIATC
— Ranchod Das Chanchad (@rdchanchad) October 23, 2024
How will a country raise Breast Cancer Awareness is we can’t even call breasts what they are. Saw this at Delhi Metro and like what the hell? Check your oranges? Who makes these campaigns, who approves them? Are we governed by such dumb people that they let this poster become… pic.twitter.com/YAZ5WYSxXf
— Confusedicius (@Erroristotle) October 22, 2024
What a shame, whoever made this ad, they simply are disgusting.
Referring ‘breasts’ as ‘oranges’ is very insensitive and crime …
This shows their insensitivity towards breast cancer patients.. pic.twitter.com/0S6snzVPwh
— Swati Dixit ಸ್ವಾತಿ (@vibewidyou) October 23, 2024
So @YOUWECAN is using this ad to enlighten us about orange cancer.
Truth to be told, I was not aware that Oranges also suffer from a disease like cancer but now I know better.
What’s next now?
When are we going to learn?
Not everything should be labeled as Taboo.… pic.twitter.com/jWuk9Siy8g
— Ankit Uttam | Authorpreneur (@ankituttam) October 23, 2024
NO. I will not check my oranges. I am not a tree with fruits hanging off me. I am a woman. I will check my breasts and I urge you to check your breasts too.
What is this bullsh*t? This is what happens when you bring uneducated morons to power. https://t.co/0PAg4C7oKt— Rubina Mulchandani (@Rubina_BigB_EF) October 23, 2024
This ad/promo is simply atrocious and deeply offensive. If you are trying to raise awareness about a deadly disease, don’t trivialize the msg & it’s intended targets in this crude way https://t.co/PGIAXYmoh5
— Dr Suman Sahai (@SumanSahai) October 23, 2024
???? Breast cancer awareness reduced to this bullshit?! Oranges??? If this was an attempt to raise awareness without ‘sexualising’ breasts they’ve failed so miserably that even failure doesn’t want to claim whatever this is https://t.co/xjB3SNR7fq
— Ew David (@changi_kudi) October 22, 2024
No wonder Healthcare in India is going to dogs.
Breast cancer is breast cancer. Not orange cancer 🤦♀️
Damn! Why use the term in Hashtag and not creative. Worst, the agency would have charged a bomb and generated AI image. https://t.co/RrBNVmBzeH— Latika Gopal (@llatikagopal) October 23, 2024
There is stigma and embarrassment attached to women’s health as it is. Campaigns should aim to normalize talking about breast cancer openly, instead of sugar-coating or using metaphors. At the end of the day, awareness campaigns need to be informative, direct, and sensitive to the seriousness of the issue. It’s a matter of life and health.