Pap Smear Photo Wins BeReal’s ‘Realest’ Image Campaign
A photo taken by a woman during her pap smear examination has won BeReal’s competition for the “realest” image posted on its app.
Earlier this month, “anti-Instagram” photo-sharing app BeReal announced the winner of “The Realest Person on Earth” campaign.
@bereal We did it! We found the #RealestPersonOnEarth ♬ sonido original – BeReal.
BeReal asked its users to send over “the wildest, rawest, most embarassing, unhinged” photos that they have posted on the app.
The social media platform, which is known for its focus on authenticity, awarded Alexandra from Iowa the title of “the realest person on earth” for the BeReal photo she took in the middle of her pap smear examination — using the app’s front and rear-facing camera.
A Pap smear, also called a Pap test, is a procedure to test for cervical cancer in women. Doctors generally recommend women get a Pap test every three years.
BeReal awarded Alexandra a $5,000 cash prize, a $15,000 vacation with three friends, and the honor of her BeReal photo being displayed on a billboard in Times Square, New York for her unapologetic and candid image on the app.
‘I Snapped The Photo and Worried About The Consequences Later’
In an interview with The Daily Iowan, Alexandra said that the BeReal photograph was a spontaneous decision when she received the app’s notification to post a picture within a two-minute timeframe. BeReal only allows users to post one photo per day and only at a randomized specific time.
“It happened really fast because obviously during a pap smear exam, you don’t want to focus on what’s going on whatsoever because it’s so deeply uncomfortable,” Alexandra tells The Daily Iowan.
“I got the notification while the speculum was inside of me and the exam was going on. I was like, ‘You know what, this is never going to happen again. I’m not going to explain this at all. I’m just going to take the picture.’
“So I just quickly snapped the photo, and then worried about the consequences later.”
A YouTube Short announcing Alexandra as the winner of BeReal’s The Realest Person on Earth campaign has over 7.5 million views.
BeReal dominated Apple’s App Store charts for much of last year — with users praising its unfiltered, anti-Instagram premise. However, the hype around BeReal soon faded, especially as other social media platforms rushed to copy it dual camera gimmick.
The photo-sharing app has reportedly been on the decline in 2023. BeReal itself reported having 20 million daily active users worldwide in April, and 25 million daily active users in September. However, according to figures provided to TechCrunch by Apptopia, BeReal had a high of 8.73 million monthly active users in October and a low of 7.96 million monthly active users in February.
Image credits: All photos by BeReal/Alexandra from Iowa.
