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.

And the emotional impact on those who are diagnosed/bereaved should never ever be underestimated. Those who are currently patients find the ads hard to see because obviously 'it could be me' and those who are bereaved, it just feels callous. And I've been both the diagnosed and the bereaved - doesnt make me want to give money to CRUK with their swish offices, or admire a Z list celeb icing a cupcake, just makes me want to go FUCK OFF with that shit.

@yolofish

Maybe you should sort your pension too. Strawberry says this cancer thing with be done with within 5 years.

Be reassured.

blue off to chuck a £m into my pension immediately!!

Strawberry
I genuinely apologise if anyone was really that offended by my difference of opinion and stating facts
What a snide and sarcastic comment.

Of course no-one is offended by the fact that you have a different (and as you keep reminding us, an 'informed') opinion.
Or that you are stating that advertising is necessary and that it brings in much needed funds.

Or that exciting advances are being made in treatment and drugs.

But you simply can't tell us that the way we feel is wrong. Feelings are neither right nor wrong and everyone is entitled to have them and to express them. So please have the courtesy to acknowledge that and to respect that.

This is a really weird thread.

I find it odd how much anger and malice people have for the very institutions that are trying to save their lives or those of their loved ones.

I wish those of you with cancer all the very best, but I think I need to walk away.

They annoy me too a bit but I guess the marketing must work in the form of return in donations / advertising spend or they wouldn't do it. Charities are advertising in a very competitive market- so cancer charities are, like all the others, trying to get a bigger slice of the charity money pie ( ie getting hold of the money that people would otherwise spend on the likes of research into other diseases, helping the homeless etc ) as well as increasing the size of the pie (ie getting hold of the money that people would otherwise spend on the likes of a bottle of wine to have with dinner) so I suppose the cancer charities are using the two unique selling points they have that other diseases don't:

The ability to build cancer into a callous, evil entity that we can join forces against in a big battle is an easily understandable, heroic narrative. Kind of a Fellowship of the Ring vs evil forces of Sauron thing. Every understands goodies and baddies from when they are big enough to watch Disney films on telly.
Of course a group of neoplastic cells "doesn't care about you" because it isn't a sentient entity, any more than fibrous plaques in brains or other types of disease are. But, at present "dementia doesn't care about you" or "let's kick multiple sclerosis' arse" or "join the battle against chronic kidney failure" aren't a thing, because there aren't any happy ending stories of the goodies winning the fight and individuals being cured forever, as there are in an increasing number of cancer cases.

Secondly, cancer is a very big, easily identifiable brand. From a marketing point of view it makes sense to group such a diverse group of diseases together under one banner: the word "cancer" is short and easy to say, easy to explain in a couple of sentences and, if you lump all the neoplastic diseases together and call them cancer you can hit people with the 1 in 2 statistic. This is a selling point that multiple sclerosis or cystic fibrosis or motor neurone disease don't have ( the nearest big brand would be the likes of the British Heart Foundation, who have sensibly kept that name rather than calling themselves British Cardiovascular Foundation).

Strawberrypancakes you’re defending your own employer, fair enough, but you have to admit, there are a lot of charities out there who do spend needless money on “overheads”, giving staff vastly overinflated salaries, not funding research at all, and claiming to “raise awareness”?

I’m usually the first to defend high salaries in the charity sector (they need to attract talented people from the private sector and “warm fluffy feelings” won’t pay the bills); but let’s be honest, we don’t need eighty billion Breast Cancer charities...

- I think you’re being deliberately obtuse, but please don’t dismiss what I’ve said. Hopefully it will benefit you in some way too.

And now you’re just being patronising.

I've read to about page 5 but the lack of empathy from some PP is shocking.

My DGF was diagnosed with cancer - I sat and held his hand as he was told his diagnosis. I've cared for him for many years and the thought of him no longer being here actually makes me physically ache, just typing this is making me tearful. The advert were the patient is filmed whilst given their diagnosis makes me feel sick and takes me back to sitting with my DGF.

I no longer give to the charity and I don't watch TV (only Netflix) because there are so many of these adverts. So the charity has essentially lost my donation and potentially future donations from me and my family. I do think they should be more informative such as early signs rather than the emotive adverts. For example the NHS ones about if you have a cough for a long time you should get it checked - at least it informs you of a symptom and the action to take.

I don't think you understand feelings Strawberry.

You can throw all the facts you want at me. I'm pretty sure I'll agree with most of them.

But when I'm waiting to find out whether my 3rd line treatment is making any difference to my cancer progression I FEEL that I don't want to see yet another cancer advert. Because I'd quite like to have a few cancer-free hours.

strawberry you can check us out here: www.charlottesbag.com. We've raised £190k in 2.5 years with no paid staff, I pay for our web hosting, Charlotte's mum and/or I pay other expenses as they arise (and we deliberately dont spend money because neither of us has very much) or where necessary we get freebie help and or sponsorship. Basically we do it all via social media and my PR skills.

Yup, its small beanz when compared with CRUK, but our supporters really really like the fact that whatever they donate goes to where it should.

And 'plush offices', well CRUK and eg Clic Sargent are not exactly slumming it! We dont have an office (apart from mine...in my house).

And if you are really going to dig deep with the Charity Commission - which I suspect you might - our accounts are late, because they're being done as a freebie. I think this is something I will change for next year, because its hard to kick ass if you're not paying for something - but either I will pull strings with my accountant, or Charlotte's mum and I will pay for it.

I cared for my DM through her terminal cancer last year. I know what you mean about ads reminding you when you need a bit of respite from thinking about the disease.

The thing is, the disease for her was so unutterably shit, stuff like ads barely scratched the surface. When cancer ads aren't on, death is mentioned in dramas or just general conversations. Stuff will always remind you. If these charities do anything to help find treatments that are less unpleasant and more effective then I'm happy to donate and hear their ads.

I clicked on this thread as these ads started to upset me back at Christmas. I've skimmed the last few pages as some of the posts upset me as much as the ads.

My DF has terminal cancer. He had no warning, in December he went from 'perfectly fine' to 'cancer, no cure'. Over Xmas we had this massive new elephant in the room and all the ads just pointed it out to us. Every commercial break. And yes, we could have avoided commercial TV so we didn't see those ads, as per a PP, but frankly if you only have Freeview TV then almost every channel is commercial and why should someone who is terminally ill avoid the programmes that give them an escape and watch the shite on BBC, to avoid the cancer ads???

I have just come home from Easter with my DPs, spending time with my DF and trying to help my DM who is now a 24/7 carer and on her knees. It broke my heart to see him so helpless, and her so bloody knackered. I live 120 miles away and cannot drive for my own medical reasons, so I can only visit on occasional weekends to help.

I know these ads help raise money for research and I hope my DF has had his prognosis improved as a result. And I do support that. I really really do. But it is still only 2 years left for him and there is still nothing that can be done to improve that, or the life for my DM. Whatever the likes of strawberrypancakes thinks about the good they are doing in their job that they do-very-well-thank-you-very-much, they spectacularly miss the pain and anguish of every other poster on this thread. And I guess that is why we are seeing these ads over and over - those responsible are employed to see only the ££££ signs, and ignore everything else.

Last night I saw the prostate cancer ad for the first time, and sat and wept buckets. On my own, back in my house; as did my DM, left with no support in their house. It didn't give either of us hope, it didn't give us reassurance. It just reinforced the message that my poor DF has no mobility or dignity left, and won't have a 'now' film in a few years time, unless I take my GoPro to film when we scatter his ashes.

Those of you promoting the position and work of the organisations concerned..... Everyone who has ever had cancer or had a family member with cancer probably supports everything you do. Really. But if you cannot show some sympathy and empathy with every single poster here, and acknowledge that your methods of advertising might be causing more pain than profit, then you need to consider you might be in the wrong job and your employer is getting it wrong for a huge number of people who should be supporting you. I work for a finance company in the City (which you would expect to be hard-nosed), I am not customer facing, but even I receive training on 'vulnerable' customers that enables me to show more empathy and support than I have seen from some of you on here.

I don't think anybody has mentioned that most research into cancer treatments whether it be the immunotherapies or the daily tablets is carried out by big pharma who then pay the full costs to hospitals and clinics to carry out clinical trials (including the nursing costs and the costs of supportive treatments) if a patient responds well the company often continues providing treatment for that patient at no cost. The charities will often work trying to improve existing treatments such as reducing the intensity of treatment for childhood leukaemia for the lower risk patient so the heart has less damage and the risk of infection is lowered.

Interesting, fiftiesmum. I know a lot of the bigger charities (CRUK etc) do hold patents (or whatever the proper term is?) on certain treatments/techniques that they’ve developed, which enables them to generate income that way. I think it also gives them a say in how the treatment is used so that a pharmaceutical company can’t just jack up prices.

I wonder just how cost effective these ads are. I'm one of the two out of three who will have/have had cancer (19 years ago) and also my DD had breast cancer at 39. I HATE those ads.

I've always felt really uncomfortable about those ads, never thought about how it might affect someone who's going/gone through it, or had a loved one go through it. YANBU

Scoobyd2 what an eloquent post.

Big pharma on the whole will not just jack up prices the cost of research is huge (most drugs discovered will fail to get to market) and some of the immunotherapies are very expensive to make as they are based on proteins. Each injection is several hundred pounds.

Thank you TwitterQueen1. I rarely post - and even more rarely get on my soap box - but this is so, so close to my heart.