The taunts and jokes of
my childhood seem remarkably naïve in these days of internet porn, celebrity
sex videos, and suggestive clothing being marketed to grade-school
children. We have become a highly sexualized, jaded society.
Imagine my surprise, then, when we received some push-back on our 5 k run/walk
event, called the Undy 5000.
A word about the event. We are not encouraging
streaking or a lingerie walk. We are giving out nice boxer shorts (with
the fly sewn shut) and are promoting this as a family event. Participants
will be more thoroughly clad than are swimmers at the beach.
The event has gotten fantastic reception, and has
already received media attention. This is our goal—to break the silence
around colorectal cancer. Every day at CCA we hear some version of “I
didn’t know that!”
· Colorectal
cancer is the 2nd leading cause of cancer death--“I didn’t know
that!”
· This
cancer affects men and women equally-- “I didn’t know that!”
· The
most common symptom is no symptom at all--“I didn’t know that!”
· Most
people diagnosed have no family history--“I didn’t know that!”
Quite frankly,
silence around this disease is leading to thousands of deaths a year. We
must get people talking!
And most people
understand this. The vast majority of people I talk to about the Undy
5000 love the concept, love the name, love the way it will create “buzz”.
The push-back has come from a couple of odd places....
Early in the
planning process we approached an insurance company about sponsoring the event
in one of the cities. They declined, saying they were concerned that
being associated with an “Undy” event would tarnish their image.
Tarnish their
image???? This is an industry
that required a college student with metastatic colon cancer to stay in
school full time while in treatment or lose her insurance coverage. This
is an industry that forced a woman whose husband’s job moved them out of state
to travel hundreds of miles back to their home state to receive
chemotherapy. This is an industry that will cover a screening
colonoscopy, but if a malignant polyp is found and removed the procedure is not
covered. Should I go on or do you get the picture? The time and
energy cancer patients expend fighting their insurance companies is
incalculable, but this company decides not to support a major new awareness
campaign because they are worried about what people will think????
Second
situation. A month ago we were offered a billboard at greatly reduced
cost in one of our cities. Billboard advertising is tough, as you
know. Most people see it for a few seconds. And, to be honest, when
you are driving, talking on the cell phone, and drinking coffee at the same
time, how much attention to you actually give to billboards? A marketing
company offered to come up with a creative idea for the billboard, and to do it
for no charge (Thank you!). They had this great idea. A bright
green background, with bold blue letters spelling this: www.showyourunderwear.com.
Quick, punchy, and memorable. We could envision this going viral—getting
passed around from person to person. We saw news clips, a campaign with
buttons and stickers and postcards.
Then we got the
news: the design wouldn’t pass the community decency panel of the outdoor
advertising company. This is the industry that for decades promoted
smoking, that used cartoon characters to sell cigarettes and beer, that
featured pre-teens in scanty clothing (remember this line: nothing comes
between me and my Calvin KIeins!). This is an industry that in that very
same city right now uses billboards to promote “Gentlemen’s Clubs” (a misnomer
if there ever was one). Apparently they can promote sex and gambling and
addictive substances, but promoting an event that will open dialogue about
cancer is inappropriate.
I remember when
no-one would say the word “cancer”. It was considered inappropriate, and
at most was whispered in confidence. This reticence led to more and
more people dying and, thankfully, we got over it.
I remember, more
recently, when polite people wouldn’t say the word “breast”. This silence
led to untold multitudes of women dying of breast cancer. Enough people
got mad enough to change this and now we see t-shirts saying “squish your
boobs” promoted on talk shows as a way of getting women to have mammograms.
The same shift
has to happen with colorectal cancer, if we are ever to end this disease.
We cannot—we will not—let the laughably hypocritical false
Puritanism of a couple of companies stand in the way. People with
colorectal cancer will tell their stories. They and
their friends and family will march in the streets (in
their boxer shorts, if that is what it takes). They will
carry their banners. And they will keep walking and keep shouting and
keep telling their story until the word gets out and people get screened.
What do you think? Have we gone
too far? Not far enough? The Bible tells us that the prophet Isaiah
walked around naked for three years to communicate God’s message. I am
not a prophet, and the Undy 5000 is not a holy crusade. And we certainly
are not advocating walking around naked. Still, how much is enough?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
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