Is Body Paint Really The Best Way To Raise Breast Cancer Awareness?

How do you guys feel about these (possibly NSFW) breast cancer awareness ads? An effective way to draw attention to the cause, or just another “cutesy” approach to a serious issue? (Another NSFW ad is after the jump.)

I’m always torn on things like this; on one hand, it does provide a clever and striking image, but on the other hand it turns a serious health issue into something cute and cartoony, and carries the implication that women are more obsessed with stereotypical things like their hair and their jeans and their zits than their breast health. The idea of being “obsessed with the right things” strikes me as a little false; to try to equate worrying about a zit with worrying about cancer seems to trivialize the illness in a way, and there’s a bit of a scare-mongering feel to it, in terms of asking women to be “obsessed” with cancer prevention as opposed to being aware of the risks and actively taking the necessary steps to protect themselves. “The difference between a pimple and breast cancer is life and death,” the ad reads. Well, yes…but there are MANY other differences between pimples and breast cancer. I don’t think it needs to be an either/or situation. If anything, women should be encouraged to incorporate cancer prevention into their everyday lives, making it just as much of a habit (self-tests, sunscreen, etc.) as doing one’s hair or covering a zit. Perhaps instead of shaming and scaring, attempting to keep everyone mindful on a daily basis would be a better bet.

My grandmother died of complications from breast cancer, so I have a hard time really dismissing any attempt to raise awareness, but something about this strikes me as one of those campaigns that is filled with good intentions but perhaps loses something in the execution. What do you guys think?