A new UA twitter account promotes Arizona Athletics in an unconventional way.
The twitter account @ZonaBoobs was created less than a month ago and already has more than 1,400 followers. The account’s mission statement is “We support Wildcat Athletics by tweeting our girls in UofA apparel! No nudity. No affiliation with UofA.”
The creator, a recent UA graduate who asked to remain anonymous, tweets pictures of women’s cleavage in UA apparel with the aim of promoting UA athletic events.
“The primary goal of this account has always been to promote school spirit and support for not only our basketball teams, but for Wildcat athletics overall,” said the account’s creator in an email interview, ”Albeit this is a different and specialized kind of ‘support’.”
The site is set up to be completely anonymous with both the account creator and the identities of the women in the photos.
Women are instructed to send in pictures of their cleavage in UA apparel to an email address, then the account holder posts the photos on the Twitter profile. So far, the account has tweeted more than 400 posts of women’s chests.
“I think it’s just a fun thing and it’s something you can send in and be a little risky but your face isn’t showing so you’re totally anonymous,” said Angela Rasmusson, a frequent poster to the account and a third-year law student. “Everybody is really supportive of each other. Nobody’s been mean to me or said rude things, everyone is really positive.”
This trend, known as #boobment, has recently swept the nation. The University of Kansas was the first college to start an account less than a year ago and currently has just over 34,000 followers.
Now, most major universities and almost every Pac-12 school, have a #boobment account. The UA already has more followers than Cal, Oregon State, USC, Stanford, Washington, and Washington State combined. With more than 2,200 followers, ASU has the only Pac-12 #boobment page more popular than the UA’s.
“I think it’s a cause that everyone, not only Wildcat fans, can get behind and that’s why the follower count continues to rise,” the account creator said.
Students on the UA campus had mixed feelings about the purpose of the account and the reputation it may bring to the university.
“It kind of seems like it’s demeaning to women and it doesn’t seem like a very good image for the school to have,” said Alexis Grainger, a civil engineering sophomore, “People across the country know ASU for the Undie Run and I don’t want to be known for having girls with big boobs.”
Scott Johnson, a pre-med freshman, said he thinks the account is more amusing than anything else.
“I don’t know if it’s doing anything for attendance,” Johnson said. “I think its just fun entertainment for whoever made it.”
The UA Bookstore has no affiliation with the account and has not seen any increase in sales due to the advertising of its shirts in the photographs posted on the profile, according to Ryan Osborne, an apparel sales assistant at the Student Union Memorial Center.
The UA athletics department was not aware of the account’s existence when asked its opinion of the account’s growing popularity.
“It’s nothing we associate ourselves with,” said Greg Byrne, UA athletic director, “We obviously don’t support it and would not do anything to endorse it.”
