Asda Turns Bar Codes into Bra Codes in Breast Cancer Awareness Drive Offering a 'Real Self Checkout'

This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Asda, Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel! are encouraging shoppers to make checking their boobs, pecs and chests as normal as their weekly shop, in a new marketing and awareness campaign from creative agency Havas London.

The Real Self-Checkout – part of Asda’s long-running charity partnership Tickled Pink, now in its 26th year – highlights the fact that regularly checking your chest and being aware of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, could help save your life. It turns ubiquitous supermarkets self-checkouts into real ones, with in-store ambassadors raising awareness while customised receipts complete with a ‘bra code’ icon, will be used across Asda stores throughout the month.

The campaign also includes in-store point-of-sale displays, car park banners and checkout prompts on Asda.com, as well as film, print, radio and social ads, featuring lines such as ‘Self checkouts could save you more than time’, and ‘Make sure your shopping isn’t the only thing you checkout today’.

Created by Havas’ Rosie May Bird Smith, the campaign – which aims to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer charities Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel! – also includes a comedic 40” film about one particularly lively Asda checkout, which takes it upon itself to remind an unassuming customer of the importance of a ‘real self checkout’:

It is part of the Asda Tickled Pink campaign, which sees the supermarket work with charity partners Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel! to raise funds for breast cancer treatments, vital education and life-changing support. Together, they’re putting breast cancer awareness on everyone’s list. The annual campaign is the longest running UK corporate charity partnership and over the past 26 years has raised over £77 million.

Stephi Brett-Lee, senior director, Asda Brand Communications, says: “With 633 physical stores and more than 18 million customers who shop in them every week, Asda holds significant cultural influence and the power to enact real behavioural change. Through Tickled Pink, we’ve been using that power to advance the progress against breast cancer for more than 26 years, raising more than £77m for our charity partners. One of the most powerful things we can all do is to regularly check our chests for signs and symptoms, and this campaign aims to encourage shoppers to make a ‘real self checkout’ as normal as their weekly shop.”

Britt Iversen, head of strategy at Havas London, adds: “As someone who lost her mum to breast cancer aged just 50, this is personal. While breast cancer awareness has come a long way since then, it remains the case that not enough of us know how to check and make it a simple part of our everyday routine. We’re proud to build on Asda’s amazing Tickled Pink campaign with The Real Self Checkout – an accessible, playful way to drive home a serious message that could help save your life.”

Asda and their suppliers have created several exclusive pink products that customers can purchase to raise money for the Tickled Pink campaign. These include Rimmel Nail Varnish, Coca Cola Zero & Diet, Childs Farm Body Wash, Pantene Hair Care, Aussie Hair Care and Oral B toothbrushes.

This year’s Tickled Pink collection will be available to buy in Asda stores across the UK and online throughout October, with a minimum of 10% of the price of these products being split70/30 between Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel! respectively.