A Call from People® Magazine
Livestrong® yellow wristbands burst onto the scene in May 2004. KNOW MORE wristbands followed soon after. It wasn’t long after May that Personalized Cause received a call from People Magazine® to feature our KNOW MORE wristbands. They placed four additional cause bands next to the Livestrong yellow bracelet in a featured photograph about trending products. Rubber wristbands were becoming all the rage.
At that time, Personalized Cause was working in conjunction with the Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in Southern California. For Race for the Cure events, pink KNOW MORE wristbands were included with the year’s survivor goodie bag gift. Wristbands were brand new and survivors were eager to get their hands on the rubber bracelets. The bracelets were fun, easy to wear, almost indestructible, and lightweight. Survivors showed off their pink bracelets to demonstrate their support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Race for the Cure. In following years, Race for the Cure became Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Personalized Cause and the KNOW MORE Wristband – Twenty Years Later
Fast forward twenty years. Personalized Cause now sells KNOW MORE wristbands in over thirty colors, supporting a multitude of conditions and causes. People ask us, do people still wear these wristbands after all that time and are they still effective in raising awareness and fundraising? The answer is, definitely, “yes.” At a price point of a dollar a piece, the awareness wristband is still used in major fundraising events to raise awareness during awareness months, corporate events, campaigns and school fundraisers. It’s an easy sell for fundraising events. People are so familiar with the item, it’s simple to raise awareness with a nod to your cause. They are easily recognizable.
The History of Awareness Wristbands
Let’s look back at the history of the awareness wristband, and the Livestrong campaign that launched in May 2004. Designed as a fundraising item, as it still is today, Livestrong chose the color yellow to represent the jersey worn by leaders of the Tour de France and the awareness ribbons that welcomed home American soldiers after combat. When we look at the significance of yellow in the awareness media, we see that it has played a very big part in raising awareness. It has been popular not only in the wristband, but was also the first awareness ribbon color used in popular culture during the 1970’s. With Nike’s support, Livestrong raised over $500 million for cancer research since the partnership began, with a huge amount of proceeds going to a good cause.
Everyone Gets in on the Wristband Craze
By the end of 2004, the Livestrong bracelet was on everyone’s wrist. People even paid a premium to purchase them. During that time, The Make Poverty History campaign used white wristbands with a black inscription with those same words. The campaign was supported by major Hollywood celebrities including Brad Pitt and Kate Moss.
Then, one charity after another embossed their slogan on the front of their customized silicone wristband designed to raise awareness. Many people wore two or three wristbands at a time to signify their support of charities and causes alike. The wristband became an icon. Soon it was not only a bracelet in support of cancer, but for any cause that hit close to home. Almost every nonprofit organization, from Orange County’s Komen Foundation to the Red Cross launched their own wristband campaign. The wristbands raised funds and awareness. People around the world adopted the symbol, and in the process, raised funds for a multitude of charities and causes.
Pink KNOW MORE Wristbands for Breast Cancer Awareness Month
So, why did we choose to use the KNOW MORE logo? The KNOW MORE logo was and still is a play on words. It means that there should be NO MORE (as in NO MORE breast cancer, NO MORE lupus, NO MORE diabetes, NO MORE asthma), and to KNOW MORE, to educate yourself about the impact of these diseases, conditions, and causes. This applies to physical conditions, a psychological condition, or a social or environmental cause. The need to raise awareness since the wristbands were first introduced has not changed.
KNOW MORE Wristbands are Perfect for Non-Profits
Personalized Cause gives for-profit corporations and non-profit entities the ability to raise awareness, create their own wristband styles for a specific purpose, as well as use funds wisely. Selling for a very low cost, these wristbands are easy to transport, and keep causes in the public eye; wristbands are still a popular way to raise awareness.
Silicone bracelets suit any purpose, and are appropriate for any business, cause, festival, school activity or fundraising campaign, sports event, charity walk, race, and sports and youth teams. History shows that, like the awareness ribbon that is still worn on people’s lapels today, its popularity has not declined. Awareness ribbons and silicone wristbands are great fundraising tools that are going to remain a mainstay for any cause and causes to come.