Pokemon Go For Those Who Don't Walk

The newest craze is Pokemon Go. In case you have been living under a rock this is where you get your butt off the couch and go out into the world and use your phone to find little virtual monsters. In addition to the expected items, people have found dead bodies (here, here, and here, gotten robbed (here, here, and here), and crashed into a pole (another reason not to use your phone while driving).

Now people like me, who aren't very good at walking around these days, are never going to to play Pokemon Go. Yes, sigh, another fad will pass me by.

I really like the idea of getting people up and outside. Too many people spend their lives sitting on the couch by choice. I would be happy getting up and outside instead of sitting on the couch but I sit on the couch because I am resting to recover from getting breakfast.

I mean I can walk but I don't go for walks outside anymore. A big walk for me is from the parking garage at the hospital to my doctor's office. Don't laugh. Sometimes that is a good ten minute hike and includes waiting for the elevator. If I could find some little monsters on the way, I might bring them to my doctor to be examined as well.

Year round pinkification

Estee Lauder is going to new lengths to create year round pinkificaiton. In October 2014, they will offer story telling videos of four families facing breast cancer. They made sure to include young and old, Asian and African Americans so it can't be deemed racist, sexist, or ageist.

They have two good reasons for running the campaign year round. The first is that with breast cancer its a year round diagnosis, not just one month of the year. That is clearly been a complaint for decades. But the other is their multimillion dollar campaign won't fit into one month. I am sure they could have made it fit into one month but it doesn't really impress me yet.

There will be personal touches through the storytelling....

"The company plans to add a personal touch through storytelling, via documentary-style online videos featuring four real-life families affected by the disease. Viewers are also encouraged to upload their own videos and stories, which may be featured on the site in the future."

Will that include the hairless body and rushing to the bathroom. And maybe they will get extra Estee Lauder makeup to cover the chemo pallor.

"Some of the donations will also come straight from the company's own pocket.  The Breast Cancer Research Foundation will receive portions of sales from 15 "Pink Ribbon" products with brand names like Aveda, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, La Mer, Origins, and Estée Lauder itself. Furthermore, the retailer will donate one dollar for each uplifting photo shared on one of their social media platforms (with a cap at $22,000)."

And the truth comes out in two little statements. first of all the BRCF will receive portions from the sale of 15 products? And how much would that portion be? A tiny $0.50 on a $50 product? That is one issue here. The second statement is the $22,000 cap on the photos shared. Does that mean they will only donate up to $22K for all the pictures shared or $22K for each of the pictures shared?

"While Estée Lauder had been planning to focus heavily on Internet platforms for some time, the recent success of the ALS Association’s Ice-Bucket Challenge proved the effectiveness of online activism, with nearly $80 million raised in one month, compared to $2.5 million last year."

Well goody for them. They are using social media and internet platforms and want to tap into the online activism as with the Ice Bucket Challenge. Sorry. I doubt it. The ice bucket challenge worked because it was a single guy who started it, not a corporation and it was a nice hot summer time where a bucket of ice isn't so bad. January would be bad. Its very difficult to create an online viral success. the best ones are teh spontaneous ones that cross borders, touch a nerve with people, and have a sensne of humor and one-up-manship (I triple dog dare you to dump a bucket of ice water on your head). 

I'm sorry a pink ribboned product isn't going to make me do much of anything. And some ad agency must be raking in big bucks for all of this.

Can you cure ALS with a bucket of ice water over your head?

Is it the same as putting a pink ribbon on breast cancer? Don't get me wrong here, I think the ice bucket challenge is raising awareness of a horrible disease and it is increasing donations to a worthy organization (unless you are Catholic and have a problem with the stem cell research they advocate). Before you grab your big bucket of ice water and are thankful this challenge is going around in August and not in January, please take a moment to think.

Is what the ice bucket challenge is doing for ALS more than what a pink ribbon does for breast cancer? Seriously.

For everyone who wore a pink ribbon or did the ice bucket challenge can you please tell me three specifications on each disease? Statistics, or life expectancy, or number of people living with it? What does ALS stand for - spell it and pronounce it without looking it up?

While awareness is great and donations are even better, we all need to step out of our little bubbles and learn about these horrible diseases - and there are many more - and what else can be done besides painting the world pink or pouring ice water on your head.

And is this just a passing fad? Or will it be an annual event every summer where the world pours ice water on their head to make a horrible disease look easy and then everyone dries off before pulling out the pink stuff?

OMG A picture without makeup? How scary!

Okay, this is just dumb. As far as I am concerned this is right up there with the Facebook fad of a few years ago where women posted their bra color or purse color to show their support for women with breast cancer. It was a secret and men were not supposed to know.

But if you are daring you can post a picture of yourself, a selfie, without makeup (!!!) and text it to a UK charity to donate 3 pounds (think of this as $5). The charity has raised over 15,000 pounds (which is somewhere in the $25-30K) range depending on the day's exchange rate.

While I support small organizations which provide local support for those with cancer, I find it sad that we have evolved into a society so dependent on artifice that a selfie without makeup is supposed to be shocking.

I rarely never wear make up these days. Maybe I'm lazy, or cheap, or not hung up on the way I look, but you would not catch me participating in this because I simply hate the way I look in pictures.

On some levels it is fairly ingenious as a way to get people to donate to their organization, the no make up thing just gets me. Why couldn't they just have people text a picture of something they like?