a short history of the charity wristband (the life of an idea)

06/15/2005 08:16:00 AM
When Lance Armstrong's charity wristbands appeared on the scene in 2003, no one had any idea of the phenomenon that the wristband would become. In its own way, it exemplifies the rapid explosion and adoption of ideas. It illustrates how great ideas can spread like memetic wildfire, spawn a host of imitators, controversy, fakers and finally users who subvert and adapt the original meaning.

The initial explosion: 21 million Live Strong bands were sold in the first year. They have now sold around 50 million. Originally expected to sell 5 million, now the Foundation sells 125,000 per day.

A host of imitators :Now every charity and organization that wants to be associated with one, has them. There are around 14,000 listed on eBay right now.

Controversy: Wristbands including those used by the Make Poverty History campaign were found to be made in sweat shops in China.

Fakers: There is a whole business in faking charity wristbands.

Subverted usage: One group of guys have created wristbands with the name Live Wrong to celebrate their lifestyle that revolves around beer and fun. Teenagers in the UK have subverted the original meaning of the bands; instead of symbol of charity support, the bands are now used to indicate sexual preference and availability.

The history of the charity wristband is almost a model for the post-modern brand idea. Think iPod; it sort of follows a similar pattern; it hit the controversy stage with the battery life issue, it still has to reach the faker and subverted product usage stages (although iPod's advertising has already been subverted).
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