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Please let me preface by saying this: I am ALL for cancer awareness of all kinds. Breast, lung, pancreatic, you name it. It has claimed several members of my family, and it's an insidious disease that needs to be cured in my lifetime and hopefully will (I am 33, so they have time). I participate in the Mt. Vernon Walk for Life every year, doing a small part to help.
That said, I also know a bit or two about marketing. There's such a thing called "sign blindness"...That's a term that originated from the overuse of signage in public places. Effectively, people become blind to advertising because it is so frequent that they just tune it out with their eyes/ears.
Are we reaching that point with the whole "Pink October" movement? Again, I don't want to be called cruel for saying it. I think it's great that pink has become a rallying cry (color) for breast cancer awareness. I know how important it is to find a cure. But it is just EVERYWHERE now. And I fear that it has gotten so big that people are going to lose the meaning of the message.
Yesterday the NFL had their "pink" debut, along with college teams Saturday. It has been going on for at least 5 years now en masse...But I saw the first sign of "we may have gone too far" with:
PINK PENALTY FLAGS IN THE NFL. Yes, pink flags for the refs. Several times yesterday, games were stopped b/c a player's pink hand towel (that had fallen onto the field) was mistaken for a flag on a certain play. Even the tv commentators were saying, "this is confusing, let's draw the line at penalty flags". Personally I think the NFL will quietly switch back to yellow flags next week...
But it's all part of a bigger point. The Komen Foundation has done a ton to raise awareness for breast cancer research and that is awesome. But I feel the message may be getting watered down. Also, other cancers are just as deadly. More women die every year of lung cancer statistically, but we don't have a month for that.
Also, in racing, where there used to be one car painted pink in support, there are now several (in NASCAR, there were at least 4 I saw during the Nationwide race)
Another sign to me was "National No Bra Day" coming up...a lot of women in the comment section on a certain website were like "um, no. That would be painful, impractical, etc"
I just want to know if anyone shares my views. I want ALL CANCER gone! Including breast cancer. And I love the pink thing, but everything has its tipping point.
That said, I also know a bit or two about marketing. There's such a thing called "sign blindness"...That's a term that originated from the overuse of signage in public places. Effectively, people become blind to advertising because it is so frequent that they just tune it out with their eyes/ears.
Are we reaching that point with the whole "Pink October" movement? Again, I don't want to be called cruel for saying it. I think it's great that pink has become a rallying cry (color) for breast cancer awareness. I know how important it is to find a cure. But it is just EVERYWHERE now. And I fear that it has gotten so big that people are going to lose the meaning of the message.
Yesterday the NFL had their "pink" debut, along with college teams Saturday. It has been going on for at least 5 years now en masse...But I saw the first sign of "we may have gone too far" with:
PINK PENALTY FLAGS IN THE NFL. Yes, pink flags for the refs. Several times yesterday, games were stopped b/c a player's pink hand towel (that had fallen onto the field) was mistaken for a flag on a certain play. Even the tv commentators were saying, "this is confusing, let's draw the line at penalty flags". Personally I think the NFL will quietly switch back to yellow flags next week...
But it's all part of a bigger point. The Komen Foundation has done a ton to raise awareness for breast cancer research and that is awesome. But I feel the message may be getting watered down. Also, other cancers are just as deadly. More women die every year of lung cancer statistically, but we don't have a month for that.
Also, in racing, where there used to be one car painted pink in support, there are now several (in NASCAR, there were at least 4 I saw during the Nationwide race)
Another sign to me was "National No Bra Day" coming up...a lot of women in the comment section on a certain website were like "um, no. That would be painful, impractical, etc"
I just want to know if anyone shares my views. I want ALL CANCER gone! Including breast cancer. And I love the pink thing, but everything has its tipping point.
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