Fake boobs, fake fundraiser.
An international breast cancer organization is among those slamming a
racy online spoof of the Ice Bucket Challenge, saying the so-called
"Hold a Coke with your Boobs" challenge trivialized the high-stakes
battle being waged against a formidable killer.
"Breast cancer is a serious global health issue that impacts millions
of women and men around the world and we believe that breast cancer
should not be trivialized," Sadia Choudhury, spokeswoman for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation
told the Daily News. "It's something millions of people suffer from
every day, and to trivialize it in such a blatant way is terrible."
The #HoldACokeWithYourBoobs challenge launched via a Facebook page on May 25 and asked men and women to balance a Coke between their breasts and share the images on social media.
It was the brainchild of Danny Frost, a talent scout with the agency Elite Talent Referral, and model Gemma Jaxx
who wanted to make a parody of last summer's Ice Bucket Challenge that
became a cultural sensation and raised more than $100 million for ALS
research.
The page had racked up 15,000 likes by Wednesday and attracted several
images and videos - including more than a few people who have clearly
had their body parts enhanced and appear in videos wearing pasties as
they jiggle for attention.
The women's breasts seemingly defy gravity and the limits of human
dexterity as they effortlessly manage to support a full bottle of soda
between their bazookas.
In comments underneath the videos, some ripped the scenes and called them disrespectful to those who underwent a mastectomy.
"No respect for the woman who lost their boobs or have misshapen breasts during the fight against cancer," wrote one poster.
The campaign also has its own Instagram page
of participants including a picture of super model Kate Upton who has a
Coke glass between her breasts. It's unclear if the picture is
authentic since she did not share it on her personal social media
accounts.
Along the way, many people thought the campaign was a fundraiser
involving the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, but Choudhury said the
organization wants no part of it and will decline any money that has
been raised by people who jiggled their ta-tas.
"It's not in any way a part of our mission or who we are," she said,
adding that some people mistakenly believed the movement was legitimate.
"If people plan to be involved with a campaign, it's important they
learn more about the cause they choose to support."
The boobs running the mocking movement released a long post on Monday night to reiterate it was only a joke and address the criticism they received.
"We never thought it would take off like it did," they wrote of
the fake challenge. "But it did. And then people started posting it was
for charity and it was for breast cancer awareness. We had never
planned on that nor thought of it. But since that's what people want to
do it for, we said why not do something good with this?"
They denied they intended to be disrespectful to people with breast
cancer, stressing that the stunt was never supposed to be a fundraiser
or awareness campaign. They suggested that people donate to their
favorite charity, and added it could have benefits to help make women,
who may not think they could be affected by the disease, go see a
doctor.
"So if this gets a few of those types of girls to do their checkups and
prevents them from losing their breast or dying from breast cancer by
doing something fun and goofy, does it not make it worth it?" they wrote.
"We want to get to a point where women don't have to worry about losing
their breast. And we want every woman to do her exams. That's what this
challenge is about and grew into."
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