Wristbands may be around for a while
Wristbands may be around for a while
By John Wilkens
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 13, 2005
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the people at the Lance Armstrong Foundation must be feeling awfully flattered right now.
The yellow LIVESTRONG bracelet the foundation introduced to the world a year ago to raise money for cancer awareness and research has spawned dozens of copycats in virtually every color.
There are wristbands for Alzheimer’s, for heart disease, for spina bifida. Wristbands for tsunami victims, for domestic-violence victims, for crime victims. Wristbands to support the troops, to remember Pope John Paul II, to cheer for the Padres.
Go on the Internet and there are companies that will make wristbands to say pretty much anything. (”YOUR TEXT HERE,” the ad for one says.) Here’s what some of them say: “Fearless,” “Faith,”
“Hope,” “Courage,” “Strength,” “Victory,” “Peace,” even “Groovy.”
It’s reached the point where it’s impossible to tell at a glance what most of the bracelets stand for. Green is for the environment – and also for worker safety. Purple is for cystic fibrosis – and for foster care. And on and on.
The bands have moved from charity symbol to fashion statement. Some teens wear five, six, seven at a time. Elementary school kids trade them at recess, just like earlier generations did with Pokéman cards and Pogs.
So when will it end?
Rich Soergel, who runs Pacific Sportswear and Emblem Co. in San Diego, which makes wristbands, thinks they’ll stay popular for maybe another 12 months.
Saturation is slowing the market among charities, he said, but corporate interest is strong. Carmakers, home sellers, bike makers, Web sites – silicone bracelets have become just another way to advertise.
Chris Franchetti, fashion-jewelry editor at BellaOnline.com, said she expects wristbands to stay hot for another year or two, “a typical life span for jewelry fashion trends.”
The LIVESTRONG band wasn’t thought of as fashion, not in the beginning. The hope was to sell about 5 million of them, at $1 each, to raise funds for cancer research, education, public health and advocacy programs. It seems the Armstrong foundation was wildly pessimistic.
To date, the foundation – started by cyclist Armstrong in 1996 after he survived testicular cancer – has sold almost 50 million of the bands, said spokeswoman Michelle Milford.
Armstrong and his rock star girlfriend, Sheryl Crow, wore the bands during last year’s Tour de France bicycle race and soon all sorts of prominent folks – musicians, Olympians, presidential candidates – were sporting yellow.
The demand grew so feverish so fast that people who ordered them often had to wait, sometimes for weeks. Even now, Milford said, the foundation sells an average of 125,000 bands each day.
Franchetti, who in addition to her Web site work designs and makes jewelry in Seattle, said the bracelets – and their copycats – are popular for several reasons.
“Supporting a cause makes people feel good about themselves,” she said. “By wearing these bracelets, people not only communicate to others that they support an important cause, but they are subconsciously reminding themselves of their own charitable good deeds.”
It helps that the bands appeal to both genders, and to all ages, she said. “Kids can jump, run, swim and get into all kinds of trouble without damaging the bracelets – or injuring themselves on hard metal components.”
And it doesn’t hurt that they’re inexpensive, Soergel said.
Inevitably, there’s been a backlash. A group of cyclists in Arizona is selling a LIVEWRONG black wristband. “No pretenders here,” the group’s Web site says.
Franchetti said the more cynical among us “fear that wearers are merely following a trend, certain to be short-lived, without having much real knowledge about the cause they claim to be supporting. That may be true for some wearers.”
She thinks the LIVESTRONG band, because it was able to establish a solid link to cancer awareness right away, will be worn by people for many years. Breast-cancer groups, which have worked for years to link their work to the color pink, may also have staying power with their bracelets.
But, she said, the general public “typically does not immediately associate other colors with their respective causes. If you can’t make an instant color association, an awareness band isn’t effectively achieving its purpose.”
All of which helps explain why Soergel, at Pacific Sportswear and Emblem, is working now on what he calls “product extension.” With so many bands out there, his company is experimenting with designs that are shaped like waves or checkerboards, or glow in the dark, or are scented.
Milford said the Armstrong Foundation doesn’t worry about the imitators. “We are thrilled that our wristbands have been embraced so enthusiastically,” she said.
One of the bands Soergel’s company makes is for a company called Mothers Minder. Designed for breast-feeding moms, it has a heart that slides around the band and numbers like a clock. Moms can use it to keep track of feeding times and nap schedules.
In this case, the colors are time-honored and easily understood: Pink for a girl and blue for a boy.
