FORGET Eva Herzigova and her 'Hello Boys' campaign, step aside a nearly-naked Sophie Dahl in her Opium perfume ad and, while we are at it, all those L'Oreal clones who say they are worth it.

Those billboard beauties ain't got nothing on our own Elaine C Smith.

Mary Doll's hard-hitting campaign to highlight the signs of breast cancer puts those preening, air-brushed models in the shade for bringing to our attention something that will make a difference to the lives of women that no anti-ageing cream nor glossing shampoo could ever match.

I must admit to a bit of a tea splutter when I first saw the TV advert. It laid bare the issue in a way I have never witnessed before.

I like to think I am fairly health-aware, but I had no idea that dimpling, discolouration, orange peel skin or a little crusting could be tell-tale signs of breast cancer.

It was a very bold move for the actress to be up for such a graphic campaign, although it is an issue that must have been close to her heart given that her mother died of cancer.

At the recent Oscars ceremony in Hollywood, the host Seth MacFarlane lampooned the female A-listers assembled who had derobed on screen with a pretty distasteful and infantile song entitled We Saw Your Boobs.

You might have million dollar contracts, the best lighting, make-up artists and plastic surgeons in the world, but taking your clothes off for the camera is still taboo.

If people had been repulsed by Scotland's breast cancer campaign, and turned off their tellies or turned the page in their newspaper, then it could potentially have had an impact on Elaine C Smith's future career. But they didn't.

Instead, women went to their GPs in their thousands, airing niggles about lumps and bumps that had probably been causing them sleepless nights.

I have never been one for shock tactics, yet that advert managed to be explicit without being sensationalist.

And it was ironic that the breast cancer awareness campaign aired the same month as the controversy over topless photos of the Duchess Of Cambridge.

The UK Government spends millions telling women to breastfeed, brings in legislation to promote breastfeeding in public, yet bare breasts are still sensitive enough for the broadcasting authorities to refuse to screen the ad before the watershed.

Given that the campaign prompted an 84% increase in women raising breast cancer concerns with their doctor in the month after the ad was unveiled, isn't it time television regulators admit they were wrong and allow it to be shown before 9pm to ensure all women get the message?

I look forward to a reversal of the decision by the broadcasting chiefs who branded it too adult – and to finding out if attendance at mammograms this year enjoyed a similar lift thanks to Elaine and some clever advertising.