Washington health board nixes colon cancer 'butt' billboards

[Teh One Who Knocks]

The Associated Press


KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) -- A health board in Washington state has reversed itself and voted against endorsing a colon cancer awareness campaign that uses billboards saying, "What's up your butt?"

The Tri-City Herald reports that Wednesday's vote by the Benton Franklin Health District in Kennewick, Wash., was in response to complaints the ads are in poor taste.

The butt billboards were earlier displayed in Yakima to raise colorectal cancer awareness and encourage people to get screened for the disease.

[Muddy]

"Whats up your butt".... Thats pretty tacky.

[Acid Trip]

A XXX store should put up a penis shaped billboard right next to it.

[Deepsepia]

Is tacky, but colon cancer is the cancer that can be prevented. Getting a colonoscopy is a "good bet" both for the health of the individual and for the cost to the public -- its "win win", costs less, saves lives-- and we don't have too many of those.

I imagine that Washington's ads were copying our friends north of the border, they have a similar ad campaign "Get your butt seen"

http://picload.org/image/owwcaa/get-your-butt-se.jpg

[RBP]

I hear little objection to preteens wearing "I Heart Boobies" bracelets, or "save the tatas" campaigns. Interesting.

[Muddy]

I think that's inappropriate as well personally.. But hey, who am I?

[MrsM]

I think it's clever - and at the very minimum it has people discussing it and Colorectal Cancer/screening. So, even if they take them down - mission accomplished.

The press this is generating is reaching many more people than the boards ever would :tup:

[Deepsepia]

I hear little objection to preteens wearing "I Heart Boobies" bracelets, or "save the tatas" campaigns. Interesting.

Which is much more . . .er . . .titillating, and much less appropriate.

Breast cancer is a concern of older women, not teen girls, and that campaign seems to encourage leering.

I dislike "cute" campaigns for serious subjects on principle . . . we ought to be encouraging people to just make smart choices because they're smart.

"This is a disease that can kill you, we can prevent it, its trivially easy and you don't feel a thing" or "How'd you like to reduce your risk of dying of one of the most common cancers by %90?" seems more appropriate to me.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Hahahahha, its hilarious

[RBP]

Fact is, what are seen as predominately more female diseases get more coverage and more leeway than things that are considered primarily male issues. Testicular, prostate, and colorectal cancers will never reach the prominence of breast cancer or cervical cancer until attitudes change.

[Deepsepia]

Fact is, what are seen as predominately more female diseases get more coverage and more leeway than things that are considered primarily male issues. Testicular, prostate, and colorectal cancers will never reach the prominence of breast cancer or cervical cancer until attitudes change.

The thing about breast cancer is that "early detection" isn't all that useful. The whole breast exam/mammogram push is extremely wasteful, produces a lot of false positives and unnecessary cost and trauma.

There's now a lot of data showing that women with normal risk should not get mammograms before 50 . . . but the whole boob medicine crowd has gone apeshit over that one.

Dude's cancers are very different-- testicular cancer occurs young, and docs treating young patients are aware of it. Its also one of the easiest cancers to treat, even when its spread quite far. Colon cancer is the big one where prevention matters, and that's really up to you . . . get a colonoscopy when you're 50, or 40 if there's a family history. its not very complicated or expensive, compared to mammography.

Prostate cancer is somewhat similar to breast cancer, a case where over-screening produces big problems. Doing lots of biopsies because of elevated PSA ends up producing lots of surgical complications (the way they do the biopsy is through the rectum, and you end up with a surprisingly large number of life-threatening infections to detect not many cancers).

[PorkChopSandwiches]

I like to have my wife perform home based colonoscopy's

[Muddy]

I've had one before..

[RBP]

I've had one before..

from Porky's wife?

[Muddy]

She used a garden hose and a mirror...

[RBP]

I heard she can identify cancer by taste.

[Muddy]

Wow...

[RBP]

over the line? :lol:

[Muddy]

The 'C' word scares me, like the word 'Valdemort' scares Harry Potter... :lol:

[Joebob034]

this story and the responses made me laugh