Why Are Women Showing Their Bra Color Status on Facebook?

By Amanda Pendolino on January 8th, 2010

Black. Lavender. Yellow. You may have noticed a lot of your Facebook friends posting colors as their status updates. What you might not have noticed, though, is that the flirty campaign is actually an attempt to raise awareness for breast cancer.

It’s a creative idea — and I’m all for new ways to promote causes – but are the colorful updates doing anything to help, or just making people think about breasts? I guess it’s not really much different than those pink t-shirts that say “I Support Breasts.” Newsweek writer Mary Carmichael writes, “At this point, there can’t be a person in the world who isn’t aware of breast cancer. What we need is not a context-free reminder of its existence, but a cure, as well as some scientific clarity about how best to prevent the disease. Does anyone think the Facebook meme contributes an iota to that?”

I think she’s right. Especially now that guys are turning the whole thing into a joke and writing fake bra color status updates, I don’t think it’s a successful method. Still, I guess it’s better than using Facebook to cheat on your spouse or humiliate your sister.

What do you guys think? Are the color status updates a fun way to raise awareness? Are you inclined to tell the world what you’ve got on?