goes to programs and care services (Nature 2014). Despite these criticisms, the ice bucket challenge did increase the awareness of a disease to which a large portion of the population possessed little knowledge and did raise a considerable amount of money for the disease that will prove to be beneficial.
A campaign that has led to steady influx of donations over a long term basis is Movember, which raises awareness for prostate and testicular cancer in men. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men with approximately 23,600 new cases per year in Canada leading to roughly 4000 deaths (Bravo & Hoffman-Goetz 2015). Testicular cancer is most prevalent among males between the ages of 15 to 29 and there is roughly 1000 new cases each year …show more content…
In Canada, approximately $22.3 million was raised by the campaign in 2010 (Jeffcot 2012), while on a global scale, approximately $690 million dollars has been raised in 21 countries (Wood & Minhas 2015). In 2011, there were more than 1.1 million registered participants attempting to raise money for prostate and testicular cancer (Jeffcot 2012) and in 2014 the number of participants had reached more than 2 million (Wassersug et al., 2014). The process of Movember involves males that shave on November 1st each year and grow a moustache for the rest of the month (Jeffcot 2012). Jeffcot (2012) refers to the men growing these moustaches as “walking billboards” and the Movember campaign relies on these billboards as a way to communicate important information about prostate and testicular cancer to the public. Ultimately, Movember is a success because men do not mind growing mustaches and the reasons behind this are that moustaches can be grown and styled many different ways, they are a …show more content…
The pink ribbon was created in 1991 and with it came an annual decline of 1.4% in the number of deaths from breast cancer until 1995, which then rose to a decline of 3.2% annually between 1995 to 1998 (Vineburgh 2004). Due to its popularity, the logo of the pink ribbon for breast cancer has led to high awareness by the vast majority of the public (Harvey & Strahilevitz 2009). Some see the public display of the pink ribbon as their reminder to be responsible about their own cancer awareness, some see it as a symbol of strength, while others feel it represents compassion (Harvey & Strahilevitz 2009). It has also created a community among women with breast cancer who can support each other through the physical and emotional challenges (Vineburgh 2004). While the pink ribbon has done great things for public awareness of breast cancer and the amount of donations to breast cancer organizations, it has also been subjected to criticism. One of these is that it has led to the portrayal of women with breast cancer as youthful and vibrant and that they will undoubtedly survive their battle with cancer. In reality, many women still die from breast cancer and a considerable number struggle with their happiness and everyday activities (King 2010). In addition, the overwhelming number of pink ribbons seen during breast awareness month and throughout the