Silicone Bracelets, Charity and All Those Colors

Robin Croal has three rubber bracelets on her arm: purple for the ALS Association, white to Make Poverty History and a blue one from Sport Chek.

The 16-year-old Grade 11 student from Halifax isn’t too concerned about what the bracelets are for or where the money she and her friends paid for them actually goes.

So why does she wear them?

“I like purple, blue and white,” says Robin. “Everybody wants one.”

She does not know if the bracelet from the Sport Chek sporting goods chain - embossed with the phrase The Power of Sport - is for charity.

In fact, the $2 from Sport Chek’s version of the rubber wristband does go to a charitable cause - it helps buy sports equipment for disadvantaged children.

The bands, popularized by Lance Armstrong’s yellow Livestrong bracelets, which have raised millions of dollars for cancer research, have become a staple in many young wardrobes.

But while some teens are buying up armfuls of the rubber bands without worrying what they’re for, others are starting to steer clear of a fad they say is unfairly taking advantage of the success of charities.

Lindsay Macumber works at a Music World store in Halifax, which sells a $2 red band to raise money for children affected by war.

“They all have a whole armful of them,” says Macumber, 24. “A lot of people are basically buying them because they’re red, and they don’t have a red one.”

While she suspects many of the teenagers buying the bracelets aren’t doing it to help children in other countries, Macumber says that’s not entirely bad.

“This cause still gets the money regardless. It makes charity fashionable.”

But the barrage of multi-coloured bracelets - many with no pretence of philanthropy - seems to be turning some teens off.

Emily Court, a 15-year-old Grade 10 student from Halifax, received a red bracelet from Rogers Wireless during a recent advertising campaign.

She doesn’t wear the bracelet, which was free, but supports Child Find. She thinks the company was simply trying to use the success of other charities to promote its products.

“I wouldn’t wear the rubber bands because so many people are wearing them and it’s become this thing where people don’t even think of the charity when they see them,” says Emily.

There are examples of bracelets that don’t even pretend to be linked to charity, but may hope to profit from their popularity.

At one store, wristbands are decorated with slogans like “High Maintenance” or “Best Friends.” Another sells bracelets with holiday-themed messages and images of snowmen and Santa.

There’s a whole wall of bracelets at Footlocker, made by sporting companies like Adidas and no indication of where the money is going.

“The original ones were all for charity and I guess they became a popular fashion item which is why everybody started making them … and that’s what we jumped on,” said Bob Adam, chief financial officer for Adidas Canada Ltd.

“But we did not jump on it for a charitable purpose - we have lots of other charitable ventures that we get involved in.”

Ian Skurnik, who teaches consumer psychology and behaviour at the University of Toronto, says there’s little question the popularity of the wristbands stems from their connection to charity.

“If the original version of it wasn’t actually connected with a charitable cause, perhaps the trend wouldn’t have started at all,” he says. “People are certainly willing to do things that are a little bit unusual if they think that it’s for a good cause.”

He says many consumers will just assume all rubber bracelets are linked to charities, which inevitably angers some when they find out they’re not - if they even ask.

Originally by CP