Bra Status Updates (2010)
added Jan 08, 2010 at 04:18PM UTC
part of a series on Facebook
About
Update: There are examples of the meme from on January 6th in both the US and France. The meme has been rumored to have started in Detroit, and in Sweden. The true origin is unknown.
On January 7th 6th, 2010 women all over Facebook began posting status updates such as “black,” “pink,” “blue,” or even “none.”
As it turns out, these color-based status updates correspond to the colors of the bras worn by those Facebook users participating in the meme. The purpose stated by many is to spread breast cancer awareness, but the primary motivating factor is likely just a more female-oriented brand of lulz. Sort of a “no boys allowed, let them figure it out” type of game.
Research into the origin of the meme is currently in progress. Contribute to the research in the KYM Forums Thread.
Spread
According to Urlesque’s Kelly Reeves and Lindsey Weber, the meme seems to have spread throughout Facebook due to a few similar viral messages.
“Something fun is going on. Write the color of your bra in your status. Just the color, nothing else. And send this on to ONLY women no men. It will be neat to see if this will spread the wings of cancer awareness. It will be fun to see how long it takes before the men wonder why the women have a color in their status…..LOL!”
Or another:
“We are playing a game…… silly, but fun! Write the color of your bra as your status, just the color & texture, nothing else!! Copy this and pass it on to all girls/Females …… NO MEN!! This will be fun to see how it spreads, and we are leaving the men wondering why all females just have a color as their status!! Let’s have fun!!
Pass this on LADIES”
Or another:
“List the color of your bra in your FB status, just the color, nothing more. Then send this mssg to your girlfriends’ inboxes, too … no men.
The point is to see how far we can spread breast cancer awareness … and make the men wonder what’s up :) "
According to French KYM researcher Tomberry, he had already spotted the meme on Facebook at 9:00 AM EST.
Blogs and Websites
Early on, the following sites all covered the story.
In the days following, The Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, and other large news sites also covered the meme.
While the popularity and fast spread of the meme was apparent, many asked how effective the meme actually was in promoting breast cancer awareness. Many argued that there are not many who are unaware of breast cancer prevention methods.
Controversy: Is it raising awareness?
The Associated Press (via Newsvine) got with Andrea Rader, a spokeswoman for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation who stated that the foundation was not behind the meme, but called it an excellent tool for raising awareness; further stating that she hopes people will act on it and get a mammogram.
On Twitter
Many people use Twitter to update their Facebook Status and vice versa. While searching for tweets that consist of nothing more than a color is a tough task, this morning has seen a large boost for bras, consisting mostly of people talking about the meme rather than reflecting the meme itself.
7 Day Twitter trend for “bra”
Insights from Senior Meme Scientist Yatta:
What’s interesting about this is the low barrier to participation (one word status update) and implication that participation automagically makes you in on the joke (and therefore a winner.) While that’s nothing new, it’s rare to see it in a mainstream FB “meme”. It’s the same kind of game scenario that makes certain image macros so rewarding. And it’s why so many people get upset when they think you’re giving away the game. It’s like you’re taking away the value of their ‘work’.
Searches for the meme
The graph above reflects searches for stories about the meme around the web, and does not directly reflect the activity of the meme itself. A Google Insights search for color names does not indicate any significant increase in searches for colors.
Mutations
While each instance of the bra color status update meme is unique, the meme has also begun to branch off into a few other clothing item related status update trends.
According to ShoutmeLoud.com there is a new chain-letter going around about shoe size.
“After forwarding the swedish game of posting ur bra color as ur status, we have received a lot of notifications from curious guys wanting to know what we were talking about, so in order to drive guys crazy each girl post ur fb/bbm status as shoe size and nothing else, and dont fwd to guys let’s see what they’ll interpret this to..!!!
Another mutation spotting on many profiles involves a humorous Facebook Privacy Settings tip:
it is mutating into Facebook Security Status messages! seen on a friend’s profile wall:
“URGENT! FACEBOOK VIRUS ALERT. An email recently went out to women asking them to post the color of their bra. THIS IS A VIRUS.To fix it, you must remove your bra, then go to Settings>Enable Webcam> Record Movie. Please repost to your status. :)”
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