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Fundraising | 13 Jan 2010

Asking a female the colour of her bra in real life may result in many angry or startled faces, however, it appears that the online world has ditched such social decorum and is revealing all, in the name of raising awareness for breast cancer.

With status updates on Facebook ranging from “crimson red” ,“sexy black and gold”, “champagne” and even “nothing”, both females and males alike have joined in with the fad, and shared a sensitive piece of information that is usually kept close to one’s chest.

Yet, with the bra frenzy currently getting as much attention in the press and online forums as the mayhem the snowy weather we have come to know and love recently has caused, one question still remains: where did the awareness initiative originate from?

Like trying to solve the meaning of life, which some do suggest is the number 42, the simple answer is that nobody knows who started it, not even the creators of Facebook Inc.

However, such nitty gritty details haven’t stopped breast cancer awareness charities jumping on the bandwagon to use the campaign.

With Andrea Rader, a spokeswoman for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, confirming that her group wasn’t behind the campaign, she did reveal that it was a “terrific tool for raising awareness”, but added that such trivial fun would only be useful if women also went to get mammograms.

Another piece of the puzzle comes from the Detroit Free Press, which suggested that the colour update campaign was started by a woman in Detroit, while another blogger suggested that it could have started in Britain.

Regardless of the origins, the campaign has been a huge success so far, with one young survivor depicting the campaign as a great way to share the story on her “over-the-shoulder boulder holders” to others who have been through or are currently going through such an ordeal.

With the group currently being the 33rd most searched-for term on Google, the end to the bra campaign’s silver lining does not seem to be nigh, and it appears the fad will continue to capture the hearts, and chests, of the nation.