BLACK, WHITE, BEIGE... LEOPARD PRINT?!

I first saw it at 9:06PM ET, Wednesday, January 6, 2010, a facebook status posted by a friend that consisted of a color "BLACK" and nothing more. I figured I missed something in her stream and moved on. Then I started to see more colors -- "WHITE", "BLACK" (again)... Humnh, does this have something to do with race?

"HOT PINK", "ECRU", "LEOPARD PRINT"

OK, well, I am guessing this isn't about race. A quick google search and I have my answer -- this (or some derivative) has been spreading virally through the ranks of my facebook friends:

"Write the color of your bra in your status. Just the color, nothing else. And send this on to ONLY women no men. It will be neat to see if this will spread the wings of cancer awareness. It will be fun to see how long it takes before the men wonder why the women have a color in their status.....LOL!"

So far no known breast cancer related organization or charity has claimed this campaign, so I strongly suspect that this is just another internet chain letter and not an example of viral marketing. But as a person in the industry, I am finding it an interesting phenomena to follow and consider.

What worked about it?

• Well, the thing that makes facebook fun is the interaction -- nothing gains you interaction like enigmatic or provocative status updates. Its fun to put something out there and get a bunch of responses. Its fun to be coy.
• It plays on the "in the know" versus "out of the know". It is fun to feel "in the know" by being one of the first to participate in a trend.
• As we all know -- "sex sells", so anything that borders on the intimate, is immediately interesting. I detect amongst my friends that it is fun to indicate to their networks this sense that "there is more to me than meets the eye". As well as a few honest individuals who reveal a sense of disappointment that there *isn't* more to them than meets the eye. It is reminiscent of the PETA campaigns with models and movie stars who would "rather be naked than wear fur". Its titillating (pun intended).
• I also see a contingent of folks who have been personally affected by this disease who will do just about anything to try to help the cause. [Side note - it is the earnest caring of this group that makes me get truly angry at all of the email, internet and facebook hoax-sters who choose to prey upon them.]
• Lastly, it also plays on the seemingly irresistible cultural draw of anything that sets "girls" against "boys".

What didn't work?

Well, if it was ostensibly for breast cancer awareness, did anything come out of it that helped the cause or really promoted awareness? Did anyone donate to a breast cancer charity? Did anyone suddenly remember to do their monthly breast self-exam who might not have otherwise? Did anyone refresh their knowledge or early warning signs and symptoms or look at the statistics? Did anyone talk to anyone else directly about breast cancer as a result of this exercise? Yeah, I didn't think so. I have also heard about it spreading without any connection to breast cancer awareness at all. It has mutated into simply "today is supposed to be some kind of day to announce what color bra you're wearing".

How could it have worked?

Let's pretend for a moment that this was a real breast cancer awareness campaign organized and initiated by a real breast-cancer-interested institution, organization or even business. Heck, for the sake of fun, let's pretend it is October (breast cancer awareness month) and this was the brain child of Victoria's Secret working in conjunction with the Komen Foundation, what could have been done better.

Well for starters, asking people to give a two status "donation" might have been more effective. The first status could say something like:

Denise Preston: I am putting my bra on the line for the Komen Foundation.

Then:

Denise Preston: [COLOR]

Now, my most recent status is enigmatic. People see it, wonder what the joke is that this color is the punch line for and will click through to my profile to see what preceded it. Now they see what it is about, see the wit, if they care to, can click through to the supporting site and can pass it down the line of their friends, both male and female.

Or, for a more direct approach, it could have been a "Make a one dollar donation to the Komen Foundation today and post your favorite Victoria's Secret bra to you wall". After payment confirmation on the donation checkout process there could be the ability to select your favorite in the Victoria's Secret line to draw awareness to the cause. Komen gets more money to put to finding a cure. Victoria's Secret gets folks sharing their product line and folks get the rush of feeling like they are doing something risque while doing something for a good cause. Would it cut down on participation? Yes. But how do millions of color status updates compare to thousands of dollars collected.

What are your thoughts?