Rethink Breast Cancer: Why Fear Driven Campaigns Should be a Thing of the Past

Whenever you hear about a breast cancer campaign, you can’t help but think pink. These events are always meant to be fun, but no matter how we mask it with pink ribbons and streamers the truth still remains – Breast Cancer is a terrible condition.  It has affected millions of lives worldwide and sadly, it’s going to affect more and more women in the years to come.

The age groups most affected by breast cancer are menopausal and post menopausal women. This is why most campaigns cater to 40 something women such as walkathons, t-shirt sales, golf tournaments, etc. Breast cancer is also often mistaken as an “older” woman’s disease. However, we are seeing more women below 40 being diagnosed – women with  completely different lifestyles and concerns.

Even the thought of having breast cancer can be pretty scary. Women who are at biggest risk for developing  cancer usually shy away from diagnostic examinations simply because they don’t want to be proven right – that they are, indeed with cancer. You can’t really blame these ladies for being scared… not when some awareness campaigns can sometimes get a little too honest and impersonal.

The Rethink Breast Cancer group knows this problem all too well. “One Size Fits All” campaigns just don’t work anymore. Golf tournaments won’t be a bit hit to 30 something women – it’s something that their fathers and grandfathers enjoy. This is why the Rethink people are dedicated to change the way we approach breast cancer awareness campaigns.

Instead of fear driven campaigns (you know, the ones that tell you that you are definitely at risk and need to live in fear from this point forward), they believe that women of different ages will respond better to campaigns that cater to their specific age group. Aside from their new approach to campaigning, the Rethink group also came up with several events that are innovative, informative and are guaranteed to make an impact with younger women. Here are some examples:

1. Retail Therapy – Rethink offers a range of beauty, home improvement and jewelry items to help raise funds for cancer research. Surely, more women will be interested in pink nail lacquer, chocolate and lip gloss than boring t-shirts, right?
2. Rack-A-Thon – rack a thon is a fitness challenge in support of breast cancer. Well, we can’t all run 21k, but with the help of good friends, you can circuit, spin and yoga your way to awareness! We love how you don’t have to have the stamina of a triathlete to participate in Rack-A-Thon.

As cancer gets more aggressive, we need to take more innovative ways to get the message across.  Women need to relate to these events for the message to get through and we believe that now is the time to Rethink the way we look at Breast Cancer.