A new charitable social media craze that has been compared to the ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’ phenomenon was designed by two Oxford undergraduates, with a team of fellow students.
Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust’s #SmearforSmear campaign, which has been endorsed by a range of celebrities, from Stephen Fry to Rita Ora, is aiming to raise awareness and debunk myths about smear tests.
The charity is asking people to smear lipstick on their cheek, take a selfie and then upload the photo to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Pembroke linguist Marianna Spring and New College human scientist Katherine Tomsett designed the campaign during a Girls’ Day Schools Trust Young Leaders Conference in September 2013.
The Oxford students developed the idea with their team during the conference’s competition to design marketing campaigns for leading charities, including Jo’s Trust.
Inspired by the no make-up selfies that were circulating on Facebook and the connotations of the word smear with lipstick, the idea of #smearforsmear was devised.
Tomsett and Spring’s team’s idea went on to win the competition and left a lasting impression on the students and the charity.
Tomsett told Cherwell, “I am thrilled with the response the campaign has had online. Cervical cancer kills thousands of women each year, and leaves survivors infertile in a large number of cases.”
“The majority of the time, it can be prevented if it’s picked up early enough, so the importance of attending smear tests can’t be stressed enough. I’m just happy that something of which I was a part could potentially save lives.”
Surrey economics student Rebecca Waters collaborated with the two during the Young Leaders Conference.
She said, “Working with Jo’s Trust helped me learn about the cancer and the statistics that come with it, all of which shocked me.”
“We ultimately designed a great concept that I personally feel very proud of, which has now been developed and actually put in place by Jo’s Trust.”
Maddy Durrant, Communications Manager at Jo’s Trust, worked with the girls at the Young Leaders Conference and helped launch the current trend to coincide with Cervical Cancer Prevention week.
She commented, “After the conference, their idea was on my mind a lot and I kept mulling it over for a long time.”
“Their contribution sparked my imagination and lay the foundations for what followed. It was such a great idea and I always knew that we had to use it in some shape or form.”
Durrant hopes that the #SmearforSmear campaign will encourage more women to attend their smear test appointments, citing the fact that one third of women aged 25-29 fail to attend planned smear tests.
She commented, “Hopefully this campaign will push boundaries of understanding and ensure more women go for smear tests.”
French and Italian student Emma Obertelli, who had her first smear test last year, said, “I’m really glad I went. Once you’ve seen the doctor for one intimate thing it doesn’t seem like such a big deal to go again.”
