Originally Posted by lurkette

This is little different from the trend of AIDS ribbons a decade or so back - every celebrity was wearing a little red ribbon every time they were in front of a camera. And now there are ribbons in every conceivable color for every conceivable cause, and you can get giant ribbon-shaped magnets to slap on the back of your car (much less permanent and damaging than a bumper sticker ). And I don't know what good it's done. Raising awareness (and research money) is always good, but how many people wore the ribbons, or now wear the bracelets, because they're trendy, rather than because they really support the cause? Are they really educated any better now than they were before they got their trinket du jour? Is public awareness and education about the relevant issue really improved by this or not? Judging by people's behavior (AIDS rates are up in some populations, people are still engaging in cancer-risk behaviors like sedentary lifestyles, smoking, bad diet, etc.).