Cancer, We're Coming To Get You

Cancer is a disease that’s well known all around the world. Many countries have research foundations that raise money for cancer research. Two well-known fundraisers in the United States are Relay for Life and Race for the Cure. In the United Kingdom the largest women only cancer research fundraiser is called Race for Life. This event is either a 5k or 10k to raise money and there has been over 6 million participants in just under twenty years.

            The commercial Race for Life used for their 2013 campaign is called “Cancer, We’re Coming To Get You" (Above.)  It features many people of all different races and ages; some were women and others were men. There’s only one thing these people seem to have in common: Cancer. The subjects of the video are either battling cancer themselves or they have lost someone to the disease.

            They way the commercial uses a diverse group of people shows that cancer doesn’t effect just one group or type of people; cancer can effect anyone. Young or old. Male or female. Any race or any economic status. Cancer does not discriminate, it just happens at random.

            None of the people in the commercial seemed sad. Instead they all seemed angry and disgusted by the thought of the word “cancer.” Some even called it names like “stupid.” Towards the end of the video, they ask cancer if it is scared. They say that it should be because they’re coming after it.

            The subjects telling cancer to be scared “Cancer, We’re Coming To Get You” personifies this disease by implying cancer has feelings and can be afraid. The personification shows how serious of a problem cancer is. It implies that cancer is as widespread as humans are. People are everywhere and so is cancer.

            Although this commercial is about the sad subject of sickness and disease, it still uses bright colors like yellows and pinks. The bright pink is most noticeable towards the end of the commercial when they show everyone running in the race, all dressed in the same shade of pink. These colors show that even though cancer is a depressing disease, the thought of raising money to help stop it can be happy.

            “Cancer, We’re Coming To Get You” was made to try to get people to sign up for the 5k or 10k events to raise money for Race for Life. The commercial did much more than that. It shows people that cancer can happen to anyone, no matter who they are. It shows that cancer is a serious problem. Most importantly, it gives hope that one day we can scare cancer away. It shows that we can be happy for the research and that so many people join together to raise money for such a widespread cause.