Havas Chicago is located at the busy corner of Grand Ave. and Wabash in the city's River North neighborhood, next to Eataly and across from the Nordstrom flagship store. Visitors to the area now have a new attraction to enjoy—a quite unusual peep show set up by Havas in its lobby windows.
It looks like a storefront straight out of 1980s Times Square, with flashing pink neon lights urging passersby to check out "TOPLESS GIRLS." It's been getting quite a reaction from pedestrians, too.
But those who succumb to temptation and have a gawk through the peep holes are greeted with a sight they probably weren't expecting—a set of nude black mannequins painted with sobering facts about breast cancer.
• 8 out of 9 women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history
• Every two minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer
• 70 percent of breast cancers are found through self-exams
Campaigns that sexualize breast cancer are generally frowned upon, but this effort neutralizes its sexual message to send a nonsexual one instead. Peepers are encouraged to assuage their guilt by using the hashtag #HavasPeepShow in social posts about the experience. Havas will donate $1 to breast cancer research for every use of the hashtag.
The provocative installation went live on Oct. 24 for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and will run through Nov. 10.