When Alyson Hannigan, Emily Deschanel, Kat McPhee, Minka Kelly and Jaime King get together to star in a video entitled “The Booby Scare,” you may get visions of pillow fights and wardrobe malfunctions running through your head. And while this might be what inspires you to click on “The Booby Scare”, I implore you to continue watching even after you realize that (almost) all the ladies’ tops are going to stay on.
Because “The Booby Scare” has something very, very important to say that effects all of us. It is actually the first video in the Save a Tit campaign created by Webutante Taryn Southern and Sin City actress Jaime King. Launched in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the campaign will consist of 6 celebrity-driven videos released each month on Funny or Die, YouTube, Veoh, and a variety of other viral platforms and sponsored by Her Energy that is designed to promote breast cancer awareness, early detection, and support for breast cancer research.
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I corresponded with Taryn Southern on how this remarkable campaign came about. “Our producer, David Bernad, really deserves the credit for that”, said Southern. “Emily, Alyson, Minka, and Kat are all active in charity work and breast cancer awareness was a particularly important cause to each of them, so they were really excited about being involved. I also want to add that having Steve Carr (director of Mall Cop, Dr. Doolittle 2, Daddy Day Care and a bunch of other great comedies), come in and guest direct the episode was awesome.”
“I just can’t believe that we were lucky to have Steve and the girls all available on the same day!”, she went on to say. “Alyson had just had a baby, and Emily had to be on set of Bones the next morning at 5am. Talk about dedicated! We all had a great time.”
With the slogan of the series being “Touch a Tit, Save a Tit”, the project is intended to be edgy. As Southern explains, “Just like anything in TV or Film, you have to tailor content to different audiences if you want a message to have more reach. A lot of anti-smoking PSA’s have been criticized for being too edgy, but growing up, those were the PSA’s I remember most. Jaime and I felt it was really important to reach Gen Y with this message, not only so that young women can practice breast cancer early detection methods, but also encourage their mothers and grandmothers to get their exam. So many women forget to get checked because they get so busy and just don’t think about it. Discovering breast cancer early is the key to survival.”
I asked Taryn if there was anything more she’d like to share, which inevitably means a few more thank-you’s. “It takes more than just producers, writers, and actors to make a web series,” said Southern. “Jaime and I were incredibly fortunate to meet the guys behind Her Energy, who sponsored the series and embraced the concept from day one. Brett Jacobson, who runs the company, was already really active in breast cancer charities and they’ve lined up a series of racing events this year to raise money for the cause. None of this would have been possible without them. We also owe a huge thanks to Laura Ziskin, Madeline Marotto, and Jules DiBiase at Stand Up 2 Cancer. Jaime and I met with them several months ago when we were just getting the concept off the ground, and they loved the idea. They are a wonderful organization and hopefully more people will look into donating to their accelerated cancer research program after seeing the PSA’s.”
For those who would like to keep up with the behind-the-scenes of the campaign, they can visit saveatit.com, or follow Taryn and Jaime on twitter – @tarynsouthern and @Jaime_King.
