Charitable No, But Fashionable Yes!

Lance Armstrong's
Livestrong charity band

Livestrong bands, the $1 yellow rubber bracelets sold to support and raise awareness for Lance Armstrong's cancer survivor charity, have become completely devoid of humanitarian meaning. They do, however, appear on the wrist of every preteen with a modicum of trendiness, and are the primary fixture of a huge fashion craze.

Like you'd expect of any easily manufactured product with a high profit margin, Livestrong bands are being forged. This alone is unsurprising and hardly blogworthy.

Knock-off "Support a Cure" bands

Several weeks ago, while shopping for marigold seeds at Longs Drugs, I came across a hanging sales display of what looked like Livestrong bands. But these were in fact generically branded "Support A Cure" bands, which ironically had no indication of supporting any charity whatsoever. My initial shock that Longs would sell so unscrupulous a product was quickly sidelined when I saw the price tag. At $1.99, these knock-off non-charity bands cost twice as much as the genuine article.

Such is the price of beauty, no?