Commemorating Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Cheil Worldwide and Korean personal care brand KUNDAL launched 'The Pink Glove' campaign presenting a breast self-exam kit inspired by Korea's bathing culture to raise awareness about the importance of regular breast self-diagnosis.
In Korea, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. The number of breast cancer patients has doubled during the past ten years, and Korea has the highest breast cancer occurrence rate in East Asia. However, Koreans have little understanding of breast self-examination largely because of the culture where conversations about women’s bodies and health are still taboo.
To raise awareness and to induce regular breast self-examination among Korean women, the Pink Glove campaign solves the problem in the most Korean way possible. Korea’s Ttaemiri (scrubbing the outermost layer of skin) culture is periodic and ubiquitous, and the most commonly used bath product found in every household and public bathhouse is Ttae-soo-geon (scrubbing glove). The Pink Glove is this scrubbing glove, the symbol of Korean bathing culture, turned into the most effective tool for regular breast self-examination.
On the surface of Pink Glove, there are Illustrations and descriptions explaining how to conduct breast self-examination step by step made through consultation with the Korean Breast Cancer Society. The Pink Glove, together with a separate instruction card, and body care products is included in the breast self-exam kit.
To further amplify the campaign, it involved partnering with public bathhouses nationwide and educating Se-shin-sa (professional body scrubbers and masseuses) on how to conduct breast self-exams since they often discover breast cancer by meticulously cleaning and massaging people. With the Korean Breast Cancer Society’s consultation, those who participate in the campaign will be awarded the Pink Glove certification.
The Pink Glove campaign has been attracting exceptional attention with its unique way of promoting breast self-exam. Launched on World Breast Cancer Day on October 19th, the first batch of breast self-exam kits handed out through KUNDAL’s website ran out of stock on its first day, with an additional batch sold out the next day.
The campaign will run for two months through KUNDAL's website. The campaign expanded to offline nationwide, receiving a flood of calls from public bathhouses all over the country. Cheil Worldwide worked on the campaign from conceptualisation to execution.