Yuvraj Singh’s NGO refers to breasts as ‘oranges’ in cancer awareness ad, slammed

Cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s non-profit organisation YouWeCan faced backlash online for a breast cancer awareness advertisement that referred to breasts as “oranges.”
The ad, displayed in a Delhi Metro coach, went viral after a passenger clicked a photo and shared it on the X account Confusedicius. Many users slammed the YouWeCan ad as shameful, appalling, and embarrassing, with the slogan reading, “Check your oranges once a month.”
The AI-generated advertisement featured a young woman holding two oranges while on a bus, surrounded by elderly women, one of whom was clutching a crate of oranges.
Condemning the ad, Confusedicius said in the post: “How will a country raise Breast Cancer Awareness if we can’t even call breasts what they are. Saw this at Delhi Metro and like what the hell? Check your oranges? Who makes these campaigns, who approves them? Are we governed by such dumb people that they let this poster become public? Shameful and embarrassing.”
The user also tagged Yuvraj Singh in a subsequent post and urged him to take down the “offensive” campaign.
“Hi @YUVSTRONG12. I just learnt that this is your foundation’s campaign. And while your intent might be in the right place, I would suggest you take this campaign off. It’s just really offensive and unbelievable,” the post said.
Delhi Metro was also censured by the user who said, “@OfficialDMRC this advertisement is one of the most tone deaf advertisements I have ever seen. Will you put up any advertisement if someone pays you? Please remove this. @YOUWECAN – get this off the metro. This advert is a no go.”
In the comments section of this now-viral post, social media users lashed out at Yuvraj Singh – a cancer survivor himself – for the breast cancer awareness ad.
“Totally dumb. This is not how awareness is raised. It will only make some people snigger among themselves and make women feel awkward,” a comment read.
A breast cancer survivor, rather disappointed, said: “As a breast cancer survivor, I find this beyond ridiculous. As a common citizen, I try my best to raise awareness everyday specially addressing taboos. @YUVSTRONG12 is uniquely placed to address this due to his celebrity status. Shameful and disappointing!”
Sample some of the comments here:
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), in the meantime, issued a statement on social media saying that the “ad was found to be displayed only in one train and was removed at around 7:45 pm on October 23, 2024 as authorities found the “content inappropriate and immediately took serious cognizance of the matter.”
Read Delhi Metro’s full statement here:
After the backlash, the breast cancer awareness ad in question was removed from the social media accounts of YouWeCan. On the other hand though, the organisation seemingly defended the ad by calling it a “bold creative choice”.
Addressing the controversy, YouWeCan responded to a senior journalist on LinkedIn who had also slammed the ad, and said: “We deeply appreciate every perspective and your feedback is important to us. At YouWeCan, we know firsthand how difficult it is to get people to talk openly about breast cancer. It’s a topic that many avoid, unless it impacts them personally or someone close to them.”
Explaining that their only intention was to break the silence surrounding breast cancer, YouWeCan added, “Our use of oranges in the campaign was a bold creative choice, carefully thought through, with the goal of breaking the silence surrounding breast cancer. We would never use creative strategies to ridicule or diminish a cause that is so close to our hearts. We are proud that this campaign has already achieved significant success, with more and more people engaging with the topic positively and opening up vital conversations about early detection. Ultimately, our focus remains on driving impactful conversations that lead to life-saving actions, and we are dedicated to pushing this mission forward.”
YouWeCan, which was established in 2012, aims to “empower all people to fight cancer, through awareness, early detection, patient support, and survivor empowerment,” according to their website.