80% of breast cancer tumors are self-detected. In the Middle East the topic of breast cancer is still taboo, so we needed a powerful and instantly recognizable way to remind every woman to do self-exams every day. Something simple that every woman in the world could relate to on a daily basis, and something that will remind them to do their self-exams every day.

To remind every woman to do self-check ups every day, we asked them to check out an emoji who has her arm raised for a very important reason.

We gave this familiar emoji a new meaning in women’s lives by creating a daily reminder to do self-exams.

The idea started with a post on social media raising a question regarding this emoji. Have you ever wondered the reason why this emoji has its arm up? She is doing a self-exam and reminding every woman to do a self-check up as well.

We took the idea even further, and created the first self-exam tutorial led by an emoji, teaching women how to do self-check ups in a region where the topic of breast cancer is still taboo.

Breast cancer is still a taboo subject in the Middle East, so we wanted to create a way to talk to women in a simple way, and create a daily reminder to do their self-exams.

In order to raise awareness in the region and encourage women to do self-check ups every day, we turned into something they use on a daily basis and that everyone could understand: an emoji. This emoji also allowed us to create an informative self-exam tutorial that could be easily viewed online and at Breast check-up clinics (such as The Pink Caravan) around the region.

In the 2020’s Pink October we raised this question online: Have you ever wondered why this emoji has its arm up? The social media post started an organic conversation about this topic across the region and beyond. But we didn’t stop there. We gave the emoji a new meaning in women’s life by creating the first self-exam led by an emoji in a region where this could be a sensitive topic.

The success of the self-exam emoji can be seen by the amount of times it was shared on social media, and the fact that people around the world started talking about it. Traveling from the UAE, to Europe and even to doctors in Brazil. It created a buzz increased awareness of the self-exam clinics in the UAE which led to an increase in visits for mammograms.