Because it’s unacceptable to talk about women’s bodies and show them in the media, Spinneys and the Lebanese Breast Cancer Foundation found an acceptable way to get everyone talking about breast self-exams without offending anyone. They used a popular baker to deliver a vital health message, creating a bread recipe video which uses dough to show women how to self-check. Because it avoided any taboo, food influencers and women could share the recipe online. The gestures then spread on all major media in the region and around the world, as well as the oldest social media ever: word of mouth.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide accounting for 1 in 6 cancer deaths (1). But studies prove that 96-98% of cancer cases can be cured if they’re detected early enough (2).

There are striking geographic differences in the incidence and mortality rates in different world regions. In cultures where traditions prevent women from talking openly about their bodies, early detection is very difficult. Women shy away from even mentioning the word ‘breast’.

According to WHO, about one in twelve women will be diagnosed with breast cancer over the course of their lifetime (3). And breast cancer rates across the Middle-East are expected to double between 2012 and 2030, which is the highest relative increase of any region globally(4).

The Lebanese Breast Cancer Foundation needed a way to break through the cultural barriers with a solution tailored uniquely to their traditions and taboos.

Because tradition prevented Lebanese women from talking openly about their bodies, we had to show them how to perform a self-exam without ever mentioning nor showing breasts. However, they respect these traditions and don’t want to break away from them.

We knew we couldn’t overcome this taboo without a deep understanding and respect for tradition. So we used it to our advantage and decided to join forces with one of the oldest customs in the world: baking bread.

“The Bread Exam” is a recipe video where a traditional Lebanese baker demonstrates the steps of a breast self-exam through a similar gesture: the act of kneading and pressing dough. Shared via the hashtag #Khabazte (meaning ‘Have you baked bread?’), the video reminded women to bake bread so they would never forget to self-check. The Bread Exam put breast cancer into the conversation by creating a new language for it.

The Lebanese Breast Cancer Foundation joined forces with Spinneys, a popular supermarket chain in the region to encourage women to self-check. Although awareness of breast cancer is high, only 1 in 10 women ever performed a breast self-exam(1).

Our audience was conservative women who respected traditions. We had to find a way to penetrate their daily lives where they felt most comfortable, without talking about breasts. Our research pointed us towards one clear direction; the kitchen.

Using Spinneys flour, we developed a bread recipe video which demonstrates the steps of a breast self-exam on dough.

The recipe never once mentioned breasts or the Lebanese Breast Cancer Foundation. It relied entirely on PR to say what we couldn’t, and “Khabazte?” gave women a code to talk about breast cancer.

We then amplified the campaign across the Middle East and Europe with local influencers in Jordan, Turkey, Germany and the UK.

The Bread Exam video was released on social media during Pink October (4th). By combining the expertise of a baker and a gynecologist, we created a realistic cooking video with real medical advice.

The campaign was fully integrated thanks to the addition of traditional touch points: on Spinneys’ packs of flour, bread wrappers and demonstrated live in souks and Spinneys stores.

Soon after, the recipe expanded to the Middle East via a Jordanian influencer, before spreading to Europe on World Cancer Day (4th February) as influencers in Turkey, Germany and the UK shared their own Bread Exams, reaching millions of women around the world. An Instagram reminder even told women to keep self-checking.

By leveraging the ritual of sharing recipes, we amplified our reach organically. While by transferring the self-exam from an intimate context to a traditional one, we gave women an acceptable way of talking about breast cancer.

A silenced topic became a universal discussion. The Bread Exam video reached over 112 million people globally and was praised by over 300 main media, amplifying our voice and starting a conversation despite the taboo.

The Lebanese President personally mentioned the initiative and rewarded the Foundation (National Order of the Cedar).

On World Cancer Day, influencers in Turkey, Germany and the UK shared their own versions of the recipe, helping their own communities overcome the taboo.

More importantly, the video provided women with a natural and acceptable way of learning how to self-check. 3 out of 4 even felt comfortable sharing it.

Thanks to baking, self-checking went from a taboo to a tradition, providing women with a brand new ritual: 86% declared that from now on baking will always remind them to self-check (1).

In the Middle East, conservative women can’t talk openly about their bodies, and more specifically about their intimate parts. It’s considered shameful, indecent and unacceptable. This wide-spread taboo is preventing the spread of breast cancer awareness as women even shy away from the word ‘breast’. However, they respect these traditions and don’t want to break away from them.

By creating a recipe video, we didn’t just tap into the trend of tutorials, we leveraged a tradition which has been shared orally for centuries.

The aim wasn’t to be controversial but to open up the conversation in a way that felt natural and comfortable. Because the video never mentions or shows breasts, we demonstrated a deep understanding of traditions and respect for their intimacy. The Bread Exam doesn’t just teach them how to self-check, it created a coded language which was perfectly acceptable to talk about.