Monday, April 06, 2009

Breast Cancer awareness..

Maybe I'm just hyper-aware of breast cancer... being down to one boob and still having pretty short hair from chemo and all..

but, I'm kind of perplexed about the marketing campaign for some upcoming breast cancer events.

The events themselves I understand -- generally the funds go toward research or support of breast cancer patients. I love their intent -- and I know I've benefitted from those efforts. Heck, I'm sure that the pretty constant breast cancer awareness messages prompted me to go to the doctor earlier than I would have otherwise...

The problem is that the marketing campaigns use rhetoric that confuses me. They say things like, "I want to take a stand against breast cancer" -- as if there are lots of folks out there takeing breast cancer's side... I fail to see how it's necessary to be vocal in opposition to breast cancer. Who is out there saying "yea breast cancer"? Can someone explain to me?

I'm not saying folks ought not participate in these events -- I just wonder if the marketing makes more sense to those of us who haven't had a breast cancer diagnosis.

4 comments:

julie said...

I can explain it: marketing is stupid.

It's not real communication in the sense that it's neither accurately informative or ethically persuasive: it's a cudgel, a crutch, a distraction, a disappointment.

I hate marketing.

Anonymous said...

I'm with Julie - marketing is stupid. In this case I think they've borrowed the expressions from other campaign - such as MADD and others where it really was/is about taking a stand agianst something or other.

Anonymous said...

I've got to admit it strikes me as odd that yellow ribbon magnets mean you're FOR the troops, while pink ribbon magnets mean you're AGAINST breast cancer.

Come to think of it, a lot of the sound bite/truncated rallying phrases, such as "Raise money for breast cancer", seem to be rooting for the wrong team.

Inside the Philosophy Factory said...

That's a really good point -- like Breast Cancer is a person who needs a lot of money to survive... the rhetoric is pretty screwy...

I just heard a commercial for the Breast Cancer 3-day walk... Someone said, "every step I take is speaking out against breast cancer in the biggest, boldest way possible"... just who, exactly, is taking a pro-breast cancer position so strong that it requires a big, bold response?