Awareness, buzz -- what's next?
Do you wear pink in October? This is the designated month and color for breast cancer awareness. And part of me asks: what does awareness do? Angelina Jolie by Georges Biard [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons I was aware of breast cancer when a friend was diagnosed. The planet went on Global Celebrity Alert when Angelina Jolie disclosed her double-mastectomy because a test had identified a gene linked to breast cancer. I'd say we've got awareness covered. What I'd rather see? Not "awareness." But a campaign that asks me to take action. This surfaced with a client's request to create a poster promoting a medical process. I asked: "What's the call to action?" Client's response: "There's no call to action. We're just trying to grow awareness." Awareness? Or its hipper step-sister, buzz? Please, not again. How many ads do we encounter every day? Estimates va...