Posted on 10/28/2005 8:56:05 AM PDT by Cagey
When Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG bracelets appeared out of nowhere a few years ago, the campaign was a classic win-win: The Tour de France champion and testicular cancer survivor's yellow band raised tens of millions of dollars for cancer research -- while improving the karma of a nearly equal number of consumers. And then, practically overnight, charity transformed into must-have fashion accessory. Take a short walk down Market Street in San Francisco today, and you can find orange and green silicone bracelets that say SAN FRANCISCO, tie-dyed ones with the words PEACE and GROOVY and less tasteful items stamped with PLAYBOY and UP YOURS -- all of the above benefiting nothing more than the opportunistic companies that printed the 10-cent rubber bands and jacked up the price to $3. Which brings us to the following question, one that can be custom-ordered and printed at several create-your-own-wristband Web sites: IS EVERY GOOD IDEA With fads spreading faster than ever in this media-consuming culture, we've managed to screw up just about everything that was once cool. Over the years, overexposure has systematically ruined the black "in mourning" symbol on basketball jerseys, the shouting of "Free Bird" as a rock-concert request and practically every line of dialogue from the movie "Napoleon Dynamite." Even the AIDS ribbon reached the saturation point in the 1990s -- "Seinfeld" devoted an entire episode to making fun of its ubiquity. Remaining up-to-date without getting left behind has become nearly a full-time job for consumers, who never know when the latest trend will be hijacked by every middle-school kid in America. Ideas that were good for dozens of years can become passe practically overnight. The toga party was cool for more than 20 centuries, right up until "Animal House" came out in 1978. IN HISTORY DOOMED TO OVEREXPOSURE?
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Where's this author been? Those things have been overused for months now.
LOL, that fad didn't last long.
Vote for Pedro
"I'm wearing it now."
I have two of the rubber band bracelets. One camoflage one that says Victory and the other is blue and the $1 went to the Katrina relief fund through a local convience store chain. I probably won't wear the blue forever but I will wear the camo one until our soldiers all come home.
"I think your "idiot" comment zoomed over alot of heads."
No, it was just ignored, as it should be.
I thought that movie was mostly lame, until LaFawndah came to town and turned Kip into a playa.
"I have two of the rubber band bracelets. One camoflage one that says Victory and the other is blue and the $1 went to the Katrina relief fund through a local convience store chain. I probably won't wear the blue forever but I will wear the camo one until our soldiers all come home."
I'm with you, band brother :)
I made one of these for myself, out of a dollar bill, and wear it fairly often.
It's for "Capitalism Awareness".
"Gently funny movie. No language, no violence, no sex. Rent it."
I was fully prepared to not like the movie after all the hype around it, but I watched it when one of the movie channels had it on and found myself getting into despite myself. Nerds as awkward as his character make geeks like me feel a little better about my high school days, when I was downright sociable and outgoing by comparison :)
"I'm with you, band brother :)"
umm, just for the record, it's sister!
When does a fad go bad? Look no further than 'charitable' wristbands
Look no further than "political contributions"
There's hope in the kids, when they can see through the DARE fraud. They are not all succumbing to the indoctrination.
If thats the case, why would I want to rent it?
My criteria are a film must contain, adult language, nudity, and violence.
I think my husband had a similiar reaction.
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