Have you jumped on the “band”wagon?

Disclaimer: I do not know Dr. Pissed. He is neither a sworn enemy nor am I his jilted lover. I only know him as a mere blogger, albeit very pissed off, whose blog I happened to chance upon. I am also not to be held responsible for grammatical errors in this post.

*STEPPING ON MY SOAP-BOX*

This post is a direct result of this post on Dr. Pissed’s blog. It’s regarding wristbands – the ones made famous by Make Poverty History, Livestrong etc. Dr. Pissed writes “Now, dont get me wrong. But I think all you dimwits out there who go and purchase the god damm band from a local shop or two are just fooling yourself into believing that you are cool. Sporting a genuine one also aint cool anymore.” He’s not alone in his opinion. Many people I know plus a couple of his readers also agree with him. Maybe some of you might also be inclined to agree with him after reading his post. But you guys are completely missing the point.

Dr. Pissed states “Cause its not supposed to fucking be cool. Its not supposed to have any other significance than to indicate to the world that you are genuinely concerned about the millions of people who die due to cancer every year and are trying your best in your little way to help fight it. And if any of you reading this can consciously say that you know more than 5 people who own a band and are really bothered about the whole thing and didnt actually purchase it cause it was such a craze, I'd like for them to go visit Curie Center of Oncology or Kidwai or something if they are in Bangalore and see how they can help. Else, tell them to tear it off their arms cause its defeating the purpose.”

Here's a comment he makes in the comments-section – “My friend and I were totally trippin on this guy on the way back just a few days ago. He had a band on his hand and he was one of those cool buggers with lots of money and all and we kept asking him whats the deal with the band like we didnt know. He said he was wearing it cause he could hang his keychain on it. ***bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep***.”



Does it really matter what the people wearing these bands think of the cause??? A statistic on the Make Poverty History website states that “In 2005 8 million people wore the white band.” Now, let’s assume each band costs US $1.00. (I’m aware that some organizations charge slightly different prices. But I like to make the math easy.) That works out to US $8 million! And that’s where lies the answer. It doesn’t matter what these people think about the cause. The important thing is that their money goes towards the cause. (And this number is for the white band alone!!!)

Who cares if those cool dudes buy the bands for hanging their key-chains? At least they're buying it. And guess who’s idea it is that you can use the band as a key-chain? I remember an ad I watched on one of these websites that showed different ways in which one could sport the band. And here’s what you’ll find at the Canadian Make Poverty History site:

Wearing the White Band in 2005 is about sending a message that you want to end poverty. And that you are part of a unique worldwide effort in 2005 to do just that. Wear it anyhow, anywhere. Just wear it:

• Around your wrist or arm
• As a hair band
• Around your rear view mirror
• Through the laces in your shoes
• Around the straps of your handbag
• As a lapel ribbon
• On your key ring
• Even on pet collars

Do you think that these organizations aren’t aware of the fact that most people who will buy these bands don’t really give two hoots about the cause? In fact, the bands ARE for those people. They're not for those people who actually help out at places like the Curie Center of Oncology. Those who really care about any of these causes are already in some way actively involved in them. These bands are for the rest of us who either don’t want to help out at such places, or are not in a position to help, or simply don’t care. This is a way to get us involved. Many times, the only way to get through some of our thick skulls and hard hearts is smart marketing and commercialization. Thus, in this case, spending that 1-dollar is our contribution towards the cause. We’ve all heard of the famous saying “Little drops of water make the ocean”. This scenario is no different. Every dollar counts.

I’m glad that wearing these bands is considered cool. And I hope it’s a fad that lasts long. I’m sure the organizations had hoped it became a fad too. Why else would they create bands? Why not something else? Bands are portable, can be worn both by males and females without looking “odd”, and can be easily showed-off! Bulls-eye. Three cheers to whoever came up with this brilliant idea. What’s more is that wearing these bands is like promoting the cause. So even if there’s a person wearing the band who doesn’t care, there is going to be someone who sees that band, will enquire about it and just might care. So to all these cool people wearing these cool bands, thanks for spreading the word!

So, why did I choose to write about this now, so late into the whole wristband faddism?
For one, I came across that post. And I thought to myself – Yes, this is just his opinion that is probably shared by some others too. I could just ignore it. But I realized that this opinion is not helping the cause. In wanting to tell off the people who don’t seem to genuinely care about the cause, popularizing this opinion is what will actually defeat the purpose. Because people are easily influenced. It’s not the cool people I’m worried about. They’re going to do what they please regardless of what you and I think. However, the un-cool people, which (let’s face it) is the majority, will start thinking twice. The cool people will go out and buy the band and wear it. The un-cool people may want to buy the band too but will begin to wonder, “I know people who think it’s lame that people just sport these bands without really caring about these causes. What if they think I’m lame too? How will they know if I support the cause or not?” And I don’t think it’s going to help the egos of these already un-cool people in any way to be thought of as even more lame. What happens if these people don’t go out and buy these bands? That’s millions of dollars towards the cause lost!
Secondly, I believe that there will be many more efforts like this in the future. When the band-fad fades, they’ll have to think of another product to catch the fancy of the public. This is why I wrote this post. For all the un-cool people who have become conscious by the negativity starting to surround these bands and similar products, I have just one thing to say – “Please buy the band and go hide it in the deepest, darkest corner of your room so nobody can find it. This way you help the cause and you won’t be considered lame by the people who might consider you lame.”

As for the issue of fake, duplicate bands, there’s nothing we can do about it. That's life. It’s sad that there are those who want to make money off the misery of others, but hey, that’s what newspapers do too! Anyway, we can’t just stop buying the bands. We must try to avoid buying the bands at questionable locations, and should either use the websites or stores designated by these organizations. Shame on those who make these fake bands. As for those of us who buy them – if we do so unknowingly, then it’s rather unfortunate, but if we do so knowingly, then shame on us too. (But then again, how many of us have not purchased pirated movie DVDs or downloaded music off the Net?!?)

I’m ending this post with a picture. I’m not sure if this person is a he or a she. So, forgive my blatant stereotyping, but I’m going to assume the person is a she because there are way too many wristbands worn for the person to be male.

I don’t know her reason for buying all those wristbands. Maybe they do look kinda cool on her wrists. What I do know is that she has bought at least 11 bands. That means she has contributed at least US $11.00 towards good causes.

And honestly, I think that’s very cool.

*STEPPING OFF MY SOAP-BOX*