Oh Philly Fans, Is There Anything You Won't Boo At?

[IPostedWhat]

During Wednesday night's game against the Vancouver Canucks, the Philadelphia Flyers played a Hockey Fights Cancer commercial between periods inside Wells Fargo Center.

Featured in the video were players like Sidney Crosby(notes) of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jonathan Toews(notes) of the Chicago Blackhawks and Ryan Miller(notes) of the Buffalo Sabres.

All of them rivals, all of them booed by a noticeable group of fans … and all of them asking for support in the fight against cancer. Which is admittedly awkward, as those watching the game noted:

Flyers fans boo rivals; alas, it’s during an anti-cancer commercial - Puck Daddy - NHLBlog - Yahoo! Sports

 

[Ballboy534]

Yet another reason to hate those asshats...

 

[filosofy29]

Philadelphia fans hate Philadelphia fans.

 

[higgyfan4]

BOOOOOOO CANCER!!!

 

[jstewismybastardson]

@ianmacvansun
Tough crowd in Philly: Crosby, Toews and Miller get booed during hockey-fights-cancer ad on the jumbotron

@ianmacvansun
Did he mean moron? RT@Mrav51 3 losers that play on rival teams! Not booing hockey fights cancer! MORAN!!

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

The only thing that could top this is if a Santa Claus wore and all-pink outfit for Breast Cancer Awareness and held an autographed picture of Sidney Crosby while walking into the Flyer's arena.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

The only thing that could top this is if a Santa Claus wore and all-pink outfit for Breast Cancer Awareness and held an autographed picture of Sidney Crosby while walking into the Flyer's arena.

HIJACK alert

with all the crazy stuff Ive read about all the backlash against the pink ribbon campaigns, I think some people wouldnt be upset with booing that

 

[Darkstone42]

HIJACK alert

with all the crazy stuff Ive read about all the backlash against the pink ribbon campaigns, I think some people wouldnt be upset with booing that

I haven't read these things. What's it about?

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

Could it have been the same people that booed the gay soldier at the Republican debate?

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

HIJACK alert

with all the crazy stuff Ive read about all the backlash against the pink ribbon campaigns, I think some people wouldnt be upset with booing that

Well, now that you mentioned it, I wouldn't mind if they removed pink clothing from football uniforms.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

I haven't read these things. What's it about?

read a story in the weekend paper about alot of different cancer organizations asking why breast cancer seemingly gets all the support over the male cancers (prostate especially)

there was more to it ... ill try to dig it up ... talked about whether the pink ribbon campaign has jumped the shark ... mentioned something about KFC selling fried chicken in a pink bucket when the product in the bucket may be leading to cancers

 

[higgyfan4]

read a story in the weekend paper about alot of different cancer organizations asking why breast cancer seemingly gets all the support over the male cancers (prostate especially)

there was more to it ... ill try to dig it up ... talked about whether the pink ribbon campaign has jumped the shark ... mentioned something about KFC selling fried chicken in a pink bucket when the product in the bucket may be leading to cancers

You got to be fucking kidding me? That is the lamest, most asinine thing I have heard today.

 

[4thstreet]

read a story in the weekend paper about alot of different cancer organizations asking why breast cancer seemingly gets all the support over the male cancers (prostate especially)

there was more to it ... ill try to dig it up ... talked about whether the pink ribbon campaign has jumped the shark ... mentioned something about KFC selling fried chicken in a pink bucket when the product in the bucket may be leading to cancers

Hasn't KFC been selling pink chicken in their buckets all these years?

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Hasn't KFC been selling pink chicken in their buckets all these years?

dont know

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

Hasn't KFC been selling pink chicken in their buckets all these years?

 

[jstewismybastardson]

lol shite ... missed that

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

read a story in the weekend paper about alot of different cancer organizations asking why breast cancer seemingly gets all the support over the male cancers (prostate especially)

there was more to it ... ill try to dig it up ... talked about whether the pink ribbon campaign has jumped the shark ... mentioned something about KFC selling fried chicken in a pink bucket when the product in the bucket may be leading to cancers

That one's easy. People like breasts better than they like prostates.

 

[Comeds]

My group has been organizing a 'show us what we're saving' campaign in conjunction with breast cancer awareness month.

 

[IPostedWhat]

That one's easy. People like breasts better than they like prostates.

Yeah, but Philly is the City of Brotherly Love.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

It has been almost 20 years since pink ribbons first appeared on the cultural landscape, a symbol of hope, empowerment and determination to put an end to breast cancer.

But finding a cure for a disease that claims 5,400 Canadians each year has proven to be an elusive goal, and the pink ribbon movement is under increasing scrutiny over corporate partnerships that, at times, push the boundaries of absurdity.

The pink movement started as a way to bring awareness about breast cancer to a world that still felt squeamish about saying the word "breast."

Now, 20 years later, there are pink fire trucks and pink cement mixers.

You can dress yourself headto-toe in pink-ribbon attire. The NFL urges fans to "Get Your Pink On." You can buy a package of mushrooms in a pink tray, a motorboat with a pink stripe and a pink Kitchen-Aid stand mixer.

You can run for the cure, walk for the cure and cook for the cure. Dog-sledding buffs in Minnesota hold a "Mush for a Cure."

Over the last two decades, the breast cancer mortality rate has fallen 35 per cent, according to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. That is, a woman diagnosed with breast cancer today is 35 per cent less likely to die within five years of a breast cancer diagnosis than she was 20 years ago.

But a Canadian woman still has a one-in-nine chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. And 22,000 Canadian women - and some men - will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.

There are better medications and targeted treatments today, but one thing is indisputable - there is no cure, says Rosanne Cohen, executive director of Breast Cancer Action Montreal, an advocacy group that objects to cause marketing.

Cohen says it's difficult not to feel petty when you're being critical of the upbeat side of cancer culture. But she believes more focus has to be put on serious issues, including the environmental causes of breast cancer.

"Finding a cure is something I'm all in favour of. But we have to put focus, research, money and value on digging out what is causing breast cancer beyond personal lifestyle choices," she says.

Samantha King, now a cultural studies professor at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., was a PhD student in 1998 when she stumbled onto breast cancer culture and wrote a book about it. Pink Ribbons Inc., was published in 2006 and inspired a documentary of the same name.

"I thought it was a fad that would diminish. But it continues to grow," she says. "You have to have a campaign. If you don't, you're not a legitimate, caring corporation."

Pink ribbon consumerism has been painted as a social good, a legitimate way to participate in civil society. And, clearly, it does work for some women with breast cancer, says King.

"There are women who have breast cancer who find this supportive," she says.

And foundations that work with corporate partners have been very successful. In the U.S., Susan G. Komen for the Cure has invested an estimated $2 billion in research and programs since the non-profit was founded in 1982.

Still, King has noted a growing discomfort with the pink industry. For the first decade of the movement, it was concentrated in "pockets of resistance" such as the San Franciscobased Breast Cancer Action. Then the Internet allowed online discussions by bloggers and watchdogs like "Uneasy Pink" and "Komen-Watch" to share their ideas. Last October, the issue got widespread attention when New York Times wellness blogger Dr. Barron H. Lerner wrote about "pink fatigue." Dozens wrote comments agreeing.

But the true tipping point was KFC's pink bucket campaign last year, a partnership between the purveyor of fried chicken and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. "It was so egregious," says Texasbased Gayle Sulik, a medical sociologist and author of Pink Ribbon Blues.

Sulik started looking at breast cancer survivorship in 2001. Her interest was piqued by pink culture and how it had become co-opted by corporate interests, how advocacy had become enmeshed in the culture of consumption. Komen, which started as a grassroots organization, now has more trademarks than most corporations, she says. "The colour pink and the ribbon have taken the place of meaningful awareness," she says. "Who buys this stuff? People who really don't think about it."

Discussions can get very charged. Some women with breast cancer feel alienated by the tide of pink, but others are quick to chide them for feeling that way. While King was doing her research, she found a lot of women with breast cancer who said they were inundated with requests from corporations to endorse products and got slammed by those who argued that "angry is unhelpful."

"It points to the tyranny of cheerfulness in breast cancer culture," says King. "If you are not cheerful, then there's something wrong with you."

The backlash is still a very loose movement. "Whether it will coalesce, I don't know. I see growing momentum," says Sulik, who knows a woman with breast cancer who bought a pink KitchenAid stand mixer. Now that her cancer has returned, she hates the sight of it.

King says foundations such as Komen and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation have become more critical about scrutinizing their corporate relationships, and they understand some people are getting uneasy about whether we can shop our way to a cure.

Other groups are cropping up that have vowed to have nothing to do with pink cause marketing.

King points to a new Torontobased group called the Canadian Breast Cancer Support Fund. The high cost of taking care of yourself points to one of the inequities of breast cancer. Poor and working-class women have higher mortality rates, says King. Donations to the support fund will be used to help women with breast cancer who face financial hardships.

"No walking, no running, no biking. No lotteries, no prizes. Nothing to buy," says the fund's website. "Just donate."

Founder Donna Sheehan was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003. One of the first things she did was read Barbara Ehrenreich's Welcome to Cancerland, which chronicled her confusion and irritation in finding herself in a geography awash in pink kitsch.

Sheehan knew what Ehrenreich meant. "I found a place that resonated with me," she says. "I'm so tired of pink everything."

SAVE THE TA-TAS CAMPAIGN DISTASTEFUL: BLOGGER

OTTAWA - Ottawa writer Laurie Kingston, who has metastatic breast cancer, writes a blog called Not Just About Cancer.

She receives pitches every year from companies that want her to promote products touted to increase breast cancer awareness and to raise funds for the cause.

This year, the president of a U.S. company called Save the Ta-tas, which sells licensed apparel, invited Kingston to be a guest blogger. "I have some fun ways to make it a great partnership for both of us and for the fight against breast cancer," wrote Ta-tas president Julia Fitske.

Kingston questioned the fun. She found the Ta-tas T-shirts for men (one says "I Love Ta-tas" and another proclaims "I ate the whole rack") to be distasteful and insensitive. Besides, she prefers to donate to an organization where all of the donation goes to breast cancer advocacy, awareness and research - not five per cent, as Ta-tas does.

Fitske soon responded. "You guys seem to think me reaching out to you and asking you to share your voice is a bad thing.

Wow, that strikes me as very sad. Who else is trying to bridge the gap? And why wouldn't we want to?" Fitske wrote, arguing that Save the Ta-tas had already donated almost $750,000 to breast cancer projects.

Read more: Widespread ribbon campaign creates backlash