Cancer awareness campaign in India comparing breasts to oranges sparks debate

The text overlaid on the image reads: ‘Check your oranges once a month’

An advertisement campaign aimed at raising breast cancer awareness in the Indian capital’s metro system has come under severe criticism for likening breasts to oranges and was subsequently pulled down.

The ad campaign featured an AI-generated image of several women on a bus, with one holding an orange in her hand. The text overlaid on the image read: “Check your oranges once a month.”

Several social media users highlighted the use of the word “orange” to refer to breasts, questioning why one would need to use this imagery instead of using direct, straightforward  messaging to drive home the importance of regular checkups.

One commenter on X, who said he lost his mother to breast cancer, said that the use of indirect language led to women potentially not speaking up.

“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 was a small lump, that was potentially curable. So please don’t sexualize breast cancer which is the most common cancer worldwide,” he wrote.

Agents of Ishq, a project about sex, love and desire, also brought up how not using the correct words leads to people associating sexual organs with shame, and therefore not seeking help with preventable and treatable health conditions.

“Prohibiting SexEd accustoms us to associate sexual organs with shame & stigma. The outcome is people becoming uncomfortable bringing up a fatal condition,” they said.

Mahua Mitra, MP with the political party Trinamool Congress, also questioned the campaign.

“That’s B-R-E-A-S-T-S , breasts. Say it aloud please. Your mom has them, your wife, your sister, your daughter. Technically you have a pair too. They’re NOT oranges in case you haven’t noticed.”

Non-profit organisation YouWeCan Foundation, which was behind the advertisement, responded to a user on LinkedIn and defended their campaign.

“At YouWeCan, we know firsthand how difficult it is to get people to talk openly about breast cancer. It’s a topic that many avoid, unless it impacts them personally or someone close to them,” they wrote.

“Our use of oranges in the campaign was a bold creative choice, carefully thought through, with the goal of breaking the silence surrounding breast cancer. We would never use creative strategies to ridicule or diminish a cause that is so close to our hearts.

“We are proud that this campaign has already achieved significant success, with more and more people engaging with the topic positively and opening up vital conversations about early detection.

“Ultimately, our focus remains on driving impactful conversations that lead to life-saving actions, and we are dedicated to pushing this mission forward.”

Following the backlash, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Wednesday evening withdrew the advertisement. In a statement on X, they wrote: “DMRC authorities found the content inappropriate and immediately took serious cognizance of the matter. The said ad was found to be displayed only in one train and was removed at around 7.45pm on Wednesday.

“DMRC always strives to be sensitive to public sentiments and doesn’t encourage any sort of campaign/activity/display advertising which is not in good taste or in defiance of prevalent guidelines of advertising in public places. The Delhi Metro will endeavour to ensure that such incidents of inappropriate advertising don’t take place on its premises.”

The Independent has reached out to the YouWeCan Foundation for a comment.

YouWeCan chief mentor and trustee Poonam Nanda defended the use of oranges, saying that open discussions about breasts “can be sensitive” in India, according to Indian news daily Hindustan Times.

“Some have questioned our choice of using oranges in the breast cancer awareness campaign, but few have asked why. As a two-time breast cancer survivor, I fully support this metaphor. In India, where openly discussing breasts can be sensitive, creative visuals help open up conversations about health that might otherwise be avoided,” she said.

“Despite initial discomfort, it broke taboos and empowered women to identify early warning signs. Similarly, in Argentina, campaigns have used vegetables like cucumbers and pumpkins to symbolise breasts, helping raise awareness for self-examinations.”

Nanda is referring to the 2017 Know Your Lemons campaign, which used the visual of lemons in an egg carton to replicate a simple but clear way to show what breast cancer symptoms can look and feel like.

Designer Corrine Beaumont, who created the design, had lost both grandmothers to breast cancer at the ages of 40 and 62, and wanted to create something so women would know exactly what to look out for.

“Some patients don’t want to talk about breasts or look at them. Often women used in campaigns don’t look like ordinary women – but even those with little literacy can understand this,” she told the BBC.

The YouWeCan Foundation’s campaign doesn’t illustrate symptoms of any kind.

Data from the ministry of health and family welfare shows that India ranked the highest in the number of estimated breast cancer deaths – 98,337 – for 2022 among females. A SURVCAN-3 study (Cancer Survival in Countries in Transition) from 2023 showed that while the 3-year median survival for breast cancer across countries was 84 per cent, it was 68 per cent in India.