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Ireland’s Most Famous Breasts Hide an Important Message in Marie Keating Foundation Campaign

Striking campaign urges people to #takenotice and marks the end of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the Foundation’s 20th anniversary

If one of the most touched and photographed breasts in the world suddenly developed a lump, would anyone notice? That was the key question asked by leading Irish cancer charity, the Marie Keating Foundation, as part of an arresting new campaign, ‘Take Notice’, for Breast Cancer Awareness month.

The star of ‘Take Notice’ is Molly Malone. Molly is the enigmatic heroine of the famous song of the same name, widely recognised as the city’s unofficial anthem. The buxom statue has gone on to become one of Ireland’s most recognisable and Instagram-ed monuments, attracting hordes of tourists daily. Their ‘handsy’ antics have resulted in the statue being groped so much that the bronze hue has begun to wear off on the bosom.

Realising that people seem to be more aware of Molly’s breasts than their own, the Marie Keating Foundation decided to leverage the public’s obsession to spark a national and international discussion about breast health. This month, creative agency ROTHCO | Accenture Interactive created and placed a small lump on one of Molly’s breasts, which went totally unnoticed by the general public, who continued to take pictures with Molly and touch her bosom. The campaign film – which features a touching bespoke rendition of Molly’s song by another Irish icon, singer Imelda May – highlights to the public that if a lump on the most famous and watched pair of breasts in Ireland can go without detection, women have to be extra vigilant and thorough with their breast examinations.

Liz Yeates, CEO of the Marie Keating Foundation and breast cancer survivor says: “Early detection saves lives. It’s that simple. Through its nursing outreach and cancer awareness campaigns, the Marie Keating Foundation promotes the importance of being aware of the signs and symptoms of all the common cancers. This year we are marking 20 years fighting cancer following the passing of Marie Keating, another proud Dublin woman, from breast cancer 20 years ago. If Marie had been more aware of what to look out for and gone to her doctor sooner she would most likely still be alive today.”

 She continues: “Being breast aware is so crucial to give women the best chance of getting advice and treatment as soon as they may need it. This ‘Take Notice’ campaign hopes to bring this to the forefront of the public’s mind and encourage women to be more breast aware by using the most famous pair of breasts in Ireland. If a lump on Molly Malone’s breast can go unnoticed then it reinforces just how important it is that women take notice and make self-checking part of their every day routine. Know your ‘normal’ so you can act immediately if you notice any changes”

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in Ireland. Every year more than 3,500** cases are diagnosed. The number of breast cancer cases being diagnosed increases each year. According to the National Cancer Registry of Ireland there are more than 37,000 women living with breast cancer and one in 10* women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.

To make the stunt as authentic as possible, a key consideration was for the lump to be subtle and removeable, leaving no trace. Commenting on this process Stephen Rogers, Creative Director at ROTHCO says, “We were so lucky to get to work with an amazing team on this project. We knew there would be huge production challenges in creating and covertly attaching a lump to a bronze statue – especially one that has the amount of attention that Molly Malone has. We worked with the Emmy-nominated Joe Fallover, Ireland’s leading VFX specialist, to create, apply and bed in the lump. We then worked with the brilliant Belfast-based director Zak Razvi, to help us capture the story.”

*https://www.ncri.ie/sites/ncri/files/factsheets/Factsheet%20Female%20breast.pdf

**https://www.ncri.ie/sites/ncri/files/factsheets/Factsheet%20Female%20breast.pdf