Cystic Fibrosis Commercials

So yesterday we were driving and P.J. asked me if I had seen the commercial for the bike ride from Vancouver to Banff in support of Cystic Fibrosis. After telling him that, no, I hadn't seen it he continued to tell me about it, getting mad as he described it and told me that I shouldn't watch it. This then sparked a conversation about advertising that is done for Cystic Fibrosis and how they tend to say things that make Cystic Fibrosis look and sound so doom and gloom. Yes, I know that Cystic Fibrosis is a fatal disease, yes I know sympathy = money but when I see this type of advertising, it feels somewhat misleading I guess from what we have been told from our CF team here in Alberta. He (and now myself as well) feel like either we're being fed the wrong information or the advertising spins the facts in a way that will generate more sympathy and in turn, funds raised. Here is the link to the commercial for the bike ride:
Link for "gearup4cf"


In this commercial it emphasizes that HALF of all Cystic Fibrosis patients die before the age of 25! Pardon my French but WTF! As I have said time and time again, yes, I'm a bit naive about things when it comes to CF but I've never heard this before! Is this true and no one is flat out telling me?!? For P.J. to get so heated about it I could tell that he was really upset. I told him that as parents of children with CF we have the right to voice our opinions to the CF community, including our local chapter, as well as CF Canada in Toronto. I told him he should write a letter and he said he planned on it. For P.J. to write a letter to voice his concern about this, it's a big deal.


And yes, don't get me wrong, I know this is a "fatal genetic disease" but I just don't think that the advertising needs to solely focus on the negative...that's my point.  And if the above statement of half of CF patients dying before the age of 25 is true then why am I being fed the line of, "The average life expectancy is into the 40's, but with advances it's more like 50's-60's"?


We had a parent's night at the Children's Hospital two months ago and this exact topic came up. The current commercials with the little boy looking like he's drowning...yeah, not my favourite. Yes, I realize that if you maybe showed all the healthy, happy looking people with Cystic Fibrosis that not as much funds would be raised but could be not put the spin on it that hey, because of the funds raised this is why they are doing so well?! Wouldn't showing a child or adult in need of a double lung transplant be just as effective for getting the point across of how serious of a disease this is? The drowning commercial just seems distasteful in a way, maybe I'm crazy. Yes, you could talk about the build up on the lungs and how it is hard to breath but showing a little boy drowning and leaving that as the last thought in your mind about CF is a tough pill to swallow for me. As one mom said that night, her two-year-old son knows the words Cystic Fibrosis and that he has it. What if he watches this commercial and believes that he is going to die drowning?


I respect other people's opinions but would be curious to see how a different type of advertising campaign would affect the actual funds brought in. I've looked at the where the funds go in the annual report and very much support how they are being spent but just feel like it sucks that I don't know who has the creative mind behind the actual advertising campaigns. You just need to think about how it would be for a parent to learn that their child has this disease and all they can think about it that commercial where the child was "drowning on the inside". 

Here is a link I found in a Canadian Medical Journal so obviously I am not the only one who feels this way:
Canadian Medical Journal: Raising money for cystic fibrosis: At what price?

We ended the conversation with P.J. making the point about how we have started to do our part by raising funds and awareness about Cystic Fibrosis but is this money going towards this type of advertising? I would love to hear people's responses to this, especially other parents of children with Cystic Fibrosis. You you don't want to respond by leaving a comment feel free to email me directly. Now I'm going to have a glass of wine. *And I can without guilt as I'm no longer nursing:)