To be sick and tired of the sight of tv Cancer ads???

[TillyMW]

I don’t mean to be dismissive of all the good work these cancer organisations undoubtedly do, but I am sick of the sight of the ubiquitous TV cancer ad!

I’m not sure if it’s just that they are more noticeable to me now I’ve been through the cancer treatment mill - 6 months of chemo and 2 ops followed by daily radiotherapy etc etc, but there seems to be no respite from cancer ads. Have they increased in number/frequency of airing, or is it really just me?

It is difficult enough to have some time free of thinking about cancer because of the anxiety such a diagnosis and the treatment itself causes, and because of the lingering ongoing pain, as well as the havoc it has wreaked on my body, but watching afternoon tv makes it all but impossible to get it out of my headspace.

I think I might be being just a bit extra ranty as my poor much loved dog was put to sleep yesterday and I’m feeling overwhelmingly sad with regular doses of fed upness with these damned ads.

OK, rant over (until the next ad anyway)!

Am I the only one who finds them depressing / irritating / too pervasive? Thanks in advance for your time.

strawberry I am quite shocked at your dismissal of people’s opinions on this. I appreciate that charities need to bring in money, I work in the industry but my partner has incurable cancer. My anxiety and stress is pretty much at the level where the smallest thing could top me over the edge. I think about cancer almost every minute of every day. On the odd occasion I want to watch tv the last thing I need, along with millions of others is to have even more cancer rammed down my throat. Now imagine if I was the one with cancer. There are many ways of creating impact and raising big pots of money. This is not one of them. Of course I want research and for us to benefit but there are ways to do that without impacting on the mental health of people living with the disease

I was just saying this to my mum the other day, no wonder a fair few people are depressed, all that is on social media/tv/in newspapers/on the news is bad news, cancer ads, ads about paying for your own funeral before you’re dead, life insurance, children starving and lack of clean water, old people with no one to talk to... like you say, all these charities are amazing but I think with a little bit of humour and lighthearted ads now and again and some good news for once maybe we’d all be a little happier! I said this on the back of a conversation we’d had because she was forever getting updates on her phone and telling me about all this awful stuff. I never read the papers or watch the news for this very reason.

I found this online re. Government funding.

*The overall science budget, which the government spends on all types of scientific research, is set at £4.6 billion. In 2011 more than £520 million was spent on cancer-specific research in the UK (figures from the National Cancer Research Institute) ¿ 60% of this came from charities, with the government contributing 40% of this amount. This is why the generosity of our supporters is so important to help beat cancer sooner. You can find a more detailed breakdown of both the main charity and government¿s spends on cancer research here.

On top of research, the government funds other important initiatives to improve treatment for cancer patients too, such as the Cancer Drugs Fund to help people access life-extending drugs not yet available on the NHS, and the Radiotherapy Innovation Fund to help people access the best type of radiotherapy for their cancer.
I hope this information is helpful*

It isn't a battle or a fight or a question of kicking cancer's arse. It killed my mother, the implication that she "lost the battle" by not fighting hard enough is offensive.

If my cancer kills me try telling my DCs I lost the fucking battle an they'll soon sort you out.

Also, forgot to say, my family has been touched by cancer quite a few times, and as you say it does seem like they have upped the amount! Every time you hear the word cancer it’s like a reminder.

‘please answer this then... is it more important that we fund future treatment, or worry about reminding someone of their cancer?’

Bit of a misleading question, though. There’s no reason why it has to be either/or

Different styles of advertisement (and different timings for the more provocative ones) mean there needn’t be an issue.

These ads and their fore-runners have been around for yonks. They were not previously so intrusive. That can be changed back

The most successful campaigns do not lead to widespread discontent among the group of people most closely vested in the outcomes of fundraising success

I find them unbearable. My daughter had/ has cancer (Aged 2) and I'm in the process of being diagnosed myself now. They hit me like a sledgehammer and if I see them at the wrong moment they make me feel so hopeless it is almost intolerable. But they aren't aimed at me I guess. Love to everyone suffering.

At least one hospital i know of- two infact GOSH and St’Thomas’ have their own charitable foundations which support employees research. Oh and the Christie in Manchester I think.

So the government will fund, even of indirectly. Research is being done in hospitals and academia where NHS funds pay for the basics, with research grants for specific side projects.

It is misleading to say the government don’t fund cancer research at all.

StrawberryPancakes, it's great that you're involved in fundraising. Out if interest, are you a medic, or just in the fundraising side?

Strawberry; that link you posted says the government does not contribute to cruk’s research.

That is different to them not funding cancer research at all.

Honestly, though, 'threads like this'? People with cancer expressing how cancer ads make them feel?

The big events which have glamorised certain cancers annoy me more tbh.

I hate most adverts as it is, but daytime adverts are misery inducing regardless of what they’re advertising. Give your money to cancer;buy this stuffed to prevent them from dying in the wild;did you know you can get diabetes;please give £1 a month to the starving children in Africa/Asia;please give another £1 a month (or whatever you can) to the nspcc;please give £1 a month to adopt a dog in a shelter because he can’t be rehomed and we’d rather keep him for his money making potential than put the poor thing out of his misery. And at the end of all that please do ring this number and we’ll help with all the debts you’ve racked up giving to all the causes above.

I tend to go and make the tea when all that shite is on.

But let’s be honest here, cancer is a hideous, hideous disease. I think that next century we’ll look at it as the plague of the 21st century iyswim. That illness where no-one was unaffected, because let’s face it I don’t think there is anyone who doesn’t at the very least know someone who has/has had cancer is there?

But even cancer advertising is glamorised. We have the walk for breast cancer thing, the October thing for breast cancer. Do we have greater awareness of prostate cancer? Of childhood cancers? Brain tumours kill more children than any other cancer yet brain tumour research gets just 1% of cancer research funding. Why is that? Is it because it’s not something which can be glamorised in the same way as breast cancer where you can wear a bra outwardly to show support and a pink ribbon and whatever else? A woman’s appearance is affected by breast cancer, yet a brain tumour is likely to impair their abilities and so the list goes on.

We need to start recognising that all cancers are equal in their awfulness, and that just because one can be glamorised more doesn’t mean that particular one should gain the most publicity/research.

- yes. This thread, and I’ve also been touched by cancer so am entitled to my informed opinion

Informed or professional? I’d also like to know if you are a paid fundraiser or a medic.

strawberry do you not understand that these threads are not damaging to research they’re feedback from people who are directly affected and who find that their mental health is implicated by the adverts. Advertising per se isn’t a problem, not at all. It’s these style of adverts which are the problem

As a stage four breast cancer patient, I find them very upsetting. It's not only the tv/radio ads. I'm sure they were always on regularly and it's only now that I notice them but it's the fundraising and even articles in magazines. It just feels like you can never get away from it. A couple of weeks ago I was shopping in m&s. I was quite happily browsing in the ladies department. They had a fundraiser collecting for one of the breast cancer charities. It was very upsetting to have it constantly in your face. Eventually I went up, out a couple of pound in her tub and said I was currently going through treatment. She was so busy repeating her spiel that she didn't even notice what I was saying. By the time I left the shop I was having to fight back tears

The word 'entitled' does not belong on a 'thread like this', in my opinion.

Given that it's people with your views who are, presumably, commissioning the ads, what harm do you believe some cancer sufferers expressing that they find them distressing is going to do the campaigns?

I have cancer, I have a relative in cancer research (on the medical side), and I hate these ads. I find them very upsetting. I'm not going to campaign to have them banned, I'm just expressing this on a chat forum.

I understand your viewpoint, but I feel you're expressing it in a tone-deaf manner.

Here’s another “actual issue” for you then Strawberrypancakes - the suicide rate of cancer patients is higher than in the general population. Wouldn’t you say that acknowledging feedback from cancer patients on something that is clearly affecting their mental health is important?

I've got to go now, but I don't think most people on here are talking about reasoning, they're talking about feelings. I'm trying to be patient with you, but actually I feel as though you're being goady, which is eye-wateringly inappropriate.

Wind your neck in.

I think ‘shock value’ adverts and tactics have become more prevalent in latter years... I think that’s because the younger generation (so the ones more likely to be in full time work with less children maybe? Millennials? Not sure what you’d call them) who potentially have more disposable income are the ones more likely to donate? Maybe that’s the reasoning behind it? I base this on my personal experience with me and my circle of friends by the way; NO idea if this is absolutely true!!