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How to INCREASE awareness

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Posted 2/9/2010 10:07 AM (GMT 0)
Okay so we need to increase awareness, but aren’t there other ways than wearing ribbons?

This is a man thing so it needs to get male doesn’t it. I never seem to have the right clothes on for wearing ribbons for instance .

Okay stick with the shape and colour but the ribbon logo needs to be BIGGER bolder bizarre.

Calling businesses manufacturers and sponsors!!!

A few ideas:

Giant blue ribbons painted on the tails of a few 747s or Airbuses etc

Massive Blue ribbons on the side of firetrucks

Enormous Blue ribbons on the back of buses, or sides of subway trains on bus stops.

blue ribbons about 6 inches high in metal or plastic that you can fix to your radiator grill

blue ribbon bumper stickers / on licence plates

blue ribbons on the corner of your business cards or the corner of credit cards

large blue ribbons about a foot high on the shirts, shorts socks and footwear of sportsmen: football/basketball/tennis players etc.

blue ribbons on the caps of golfers (Not so crazy: there was a golf event at the Belfry in the UK in 2008 where on ladies day everyone was encouraged to wear pink or some pink see http://www.quinninsurancebritishmasters.com/ladies-day.php. )

blue ribbons on the balls on the field/pitch.

blue ribbons on beer mats, beer glasses, beer bottles.

blue ribbons on hand driers in the men's room

blue ribbons on the back of cubicle doors in the men’s room (and the girls)

blue ribbons on the chinaware in the urinal or at eye level.

Blue ribbons on condom machines

Blue ribbons on sunglasses, phones

Blue ribbons on swimming trunks/shorts

Blue ribbons on milk cartons

etc

So how do we do this?

Alfred
Posted 2/9/2010 11:41 AM (GMT 0)
Think BIGGER...Like:

Send us Story Tips: tips@nbcdfw dot com

Every local TV station has a deal like this....

Posted 2/9/2010 2:24 PM (GMT 0)
I am not sure what "awareness' means. Does telling your friends to get their PSAs checked count? Are there any men (with health care) over 55 who don't know they should get a physical with a screening PSA? I think many guys know, but choose to ignore it.

Maybe it's just me but I never got the concept of supporting a cause by buying a magnet that was "Made in China". You supported the factory owner in Guan Dong province, the Maersk shipping line and the retailer. Maybe they donated 1% of the proceeds to the cause. Maybe.

If you want to support a cause, there are lots of options. Volunteer, give your time, send a check, talk it up to your friends and contacts. Maybe even send out a link or two to some interesting and informative post. Skip the magnet - Contribute.

Jeff <-- Contributing to the HW cause almost daily. (But nowhere near as much as the mods!)
Posted 2/9/2010 2:28 PM (GMT 0)
Jeff has talked about having a bigger package with our pads, etc. Maybe we ought to have "package enhancers" as a way of drawing attention to prostate issues.

Summer sausage ?
Posted 2/9/2010 2:31 PM (GMT 0)
Alf, those were some marv ideas for getting out the blue, but the blue works only if the person on the understands what the blue stands for.

Yes, cafe press sales a lot of neat PC related items already made up, but its not being done for our cause, its being done purely for profit.

I have male business friends here, with PC in their direct family, that refuse to get a general exam, and even more afraid to get a PSA test. We are talking about educated men, some of which are wealthy to boot, so money isnt the issue.

I try to spread the cause person by person, as providence naturally allows me to in my day to day life.

All good ideas though, thanks, Alf

David in SC
Posted 2/9/2010 3:26 PM (GMT 0)

  I like the bracelet myself....Wear it and talk about it. But many men, and quite a few on this form won't. I don't know how many post I've read when someone will say...."I can only talk about this here"..."people at work don't know"......the ladies wearing the pink, they'll talk it up, with whom ever....guys have got to be willing to talk about it! ED, IC whatever....heck I talked with many of my female friends about different types of pads to wear. I mean I've read some guys won't buy the pads themselves.....they send their wives, sorry guys we had our prostate cut out, not our boys cut off!.........

  How can we make people aware if we're not ready to talk about it openly and honestly....with anyone....and for you single guys out there don't let it stop you from dating or asking someone out.......curiosity killed the cat!!

  Now I know many of us do and will talk it up.....but we need all of us. Just sayin'...

Posted 2/9/2010 3:31 PM (GMT 0)
I talk about it to any willing participant that wants to know, and will talk in as much detail as the individual can handle. Feel its one of my missions on earth right now. Prior to my PSA going over the 4.0 limit back in 2007, I never once thought about prostate cancer, prostate problems, or to be real honest, didn't even know where my prostate was or what it did. I never want to be that ignorant again.
Posted 2/9/2010 3:52 PM (GMT 0)

  You're exactly right David...We watched mine for 10-11 years when my PSA went above 5.0 then it settled back down to 3 something then went calm in the 1.2-1.4 range for a number of years.....I had an older first cousin who had PCa quite a few years ago 16-17 years maybe. lHe told me keep an eye on it....hence my first PSA test which was the 5.0, I was too stupid about the whole PCa thing back then to be concerned.....I had actully forgotten my father was Dx'd in his early seventies(I rememered him telling me this years ago,  just  before my surgery "I have this cancer but the Dr's not really concerned it's so slow growing something else will get my before it will, and something else did, nuts huh?)

 I mean it's nothing to be ashamed of, it makes not a one of any less of a man or human being...if used right and everyone can get their heads wrapped around it in the right fashion it actually can make us stronger.....Like I've said before none of us got in line and asked for this crap! We can't let it take anymore from us than it already has......

    ....keep up the good fight David...


Posted 2/9/2010 4:44 PM (GMT 0)
I was thinking about how can awareness be increased among those that don't know anything about it.

I had not heard of the PSA test this time last year, and knew next to nothing about PCa.

Plus I suppose how can people be encouraged to support people and organisations researching treatments and cures more than how they can be encouraged to support people with PCa.

I was definitely not thinking about ideas that would make profits for "Chinese factory owners"

When I suggested a big blue ribbon painted on say the back of a bus I kinda thought it was obvious that underneath or next to the ribbon there would be a message such as:

"Support Prostate cancer research"

"When did you last get your prostate checked?"

"More men get Prostate cancer than women get breast cancer."

"Publicity" has in my opinion got to be based around something that makes guys comfortable. I just don't feel comfortable with blue ribbons on my clothes. Ladies do indeed seem very comfortable wearing ribbons and talking about it. If ribbons had not already existed blokes would not have come up with ribbons as a means of flagging the problem.

"Hey Alf, d'ya want another beer and did you see that stuff on the urinal about prostate cancer?" or "What the ****'s that stuff on the subway about prostate cancer all about?" are much more like the ways blokes communicate than. "Oh Alf I see you're wearing a ribbon? Do you take milk in that. Do you want to talk about it?"

I want us to catch up with where breast cancer has got to.
My wife and her friends get regualr call ups to go and get their breasts and cervixes checked. there's a whole building down the road just for the breast screening centre.
The women in Dutch villages get checked in a mobile facility.
Women's magazines are full of stuff about women's health issues etc etc.

Anyone, everyone is welcome to wear a pink ribbon and a blue ribbon, but nobody has to wear any kind of ribbon to remind them or tell others that dental hygiene and visits to the dentist are important.

And at the moment the weather's not warm enough to see my T shirt let alone read what's on it.

Alfred
Posted 2/9/2010 6:55 PM (GMT 0)
Maybe a manly wristband instead?
Posted 2/9/2010 8:01 PM (GMT 0)
We are adding a pca awareness message to the graphics on our racecars and trailer. I talk to alot of people at the track and hope to be able to convince a few to geta psa. Tim
Posted 2/9/2010 8:57 PM (GMT 0)
t-dog - I really like that. If someone knew someone in NASCAR who could get the blue ribbon onto a Sprint Cup car, now that would be something indeed. Talk about awareness to men!
Roger
Posted 2/9/2010 9:51 PM (GMT 0)
Maybe the Viagara car would. We certainly give them a lot of business !
Posted 2/9/2010 11:18 PM (GMT 0)
I wear the blue bracelet and have given few to my friends who have PCa. However, I have asked all my male fiends to take their PSA test seriously and watch for the acceleration.
Posted 2/10/2010 8:49 AM (GMT 0)
I'll leave my first post unedited, but I've realised that what I should have said should have emphasised the sponsoring side.

ie that companies would show support by paying to stick blue ribbon logos (plus a message) all over suitable things.

I'm sure the top of the Empire State Builduing has been lit in pink lights, so why not do it in blue one day too. A nice phallic symbol if ever there was.

I almost feel like going underground and printing off loads of stickers and sticking them on things myself.

Glad people liked a few of my thoughts.

And as we know there is a place for humour with PCa too, so why not use it with the message:

"Mine's eight and a half. My dad's was ten. How big's yours?
Guys go and get your PSA level checked!"

this next one is just a joke though:

I thought Seven-Up was a drink till I saw the biopsy needles

Alf
Posted 2/10/2010 2:14 PM (GMT 0)

Alf,

I like the humor.  The Calgary airport has a large poster with a popular race car driver wearing checkered undershorts, and some kind of slogan about getting PSA checked.

My wife works for a hospital that goes out and does cholesterol and blood sugar testsing.  I keep telling her PC is even more important than those items.

As much as I like the blue ribbons and bracelets, we do need to think bigger.  I don't know about a 10 tho. (haha)

Posted 2/12/2010 2:43 PM (GMT 0)
you are probably aware of Depends Campaign ZERO
-has a list of "team members"

http://www.dependpca.com/team/

was pleased to see that printed on the sides of their male guards package -
Posted 2/12/2010 2:50 PM (GMT 0)
In my area, once a year, the various local major hospitals do free mobile PSA screenings, they target the African-American population in particular, which is high in SC. They set up around malls, and other areas, and the turn outs are usally reported pretty good. Wish there was more "awareness" here, but at least it is something
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