Every October the messages will start flooding your inbox requesting that you post something confusing and urge all your other female friends to do the same. It is Breast Cancer awareness month, so these messages start cycling around in hopes to improve the awareness and donations toward research and education on breast cancer. However, it cannot be proved that these meme/message gimmicks actually assist in the increase in donations, or just the fact that breast cancer awareness month has begun has created the influx of donations (Mahoney & Tang, 2017).
But what if I love my mom but don’t want to “like” your crummy, comic-sans post?
The epidemic of meaningless Facebook posts that request that the user “like” or “comment” on the post to show their support or express a certain fact of agreement has increased over the years. A photo of a veteran holding a sign describing the horrible conditions they endured while in duty and then it says, “I bet this won’t go viral or get any likes.” The posts bait people and guilt them into participating in the community, otherwise they are not patriotic, hate puppies, or hope that all children of the world are diagnosed with terminal illness.
Spreading a message or leaving a “like” doesn’t make much of a difference in the world other than making people pay a moment of their attention toward the matter. There are other methods that ensure that an actual difference can be made. Monetary donations toward education and treatment research can lead to sooner diagnoses and a speedier and more definite cure for the illness.
Aerie
I absolutely adore Aerie as a company. I worked there for over 3 years and witnessed them abolish the practice of retouching their photos, present a representation of a variety of different body types in their marketing, and example endless generosity by participating in Bright Pink (breast cancer awareness) and NEDA (eating disorder awareness) campaigns where donations were asked for and certain items were sold where 100% of the proceeds went toward the cause of the month.
I feel that this is a more accurate use of charitable campaigns to make a difference. Bright Pink is a non-profit that focuses on educating young women on the practice of self-examinations and other information surrounding breast and ovarian cancer. As for NEDA, Aerie promises that every un-retouched swim photo posted with their hashtag #AerieREAL, a $1 will be donated up to $50k. This is meant to promote self love and body acceptance in an industry that normally can make young women feel that they are not enough.
Aerie knows what they are doing. In an industry where the marketing has historically been flashy and showing women from a young age what “perfect” is, Aerie shows everyone that you can be happy with the skin you are in and society’s “standards of beauty” don’t matter. They are including themselves in the body positive movement and making it part of their brand. This is a message that not only young women can get behind, but also the mothers of the young women that are purchasing items for the main demographic focus of the company, 12 to 25 year-old women. Appealing to the masses and making a difference in the world is something that consumers want to see from the companies they invest in.
References
Mahoney, M. L., & Tang, T. (2017). Strategic Social Media: From Marketing to Social Change.
Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Aerie. (2018). #AerieSupports. Retrieved from
https://www.ae.com/featured- aeriesupports/aerie/s-cms/7610002
Keep it Social 