Can't resist, but...
I say knickers to this pants idea!
Brazil's Congress has decreed that in future underwear must come with warnings of the perils of cancer, a healthy 12 years after the idea was first proposed by former congressman Barbosa Neto. According to the Telegraph, packaging for bras will advise women to examine their assets regularly, while chaps unwrapping pants will …
Did you ever think that maybe people don't want to spend all of their Cancer-free years being reminded of Cancer every day?
Or what if you do have Cancer? Are you going to consider it helpful or appropriate that everything you buy has a big fat Cancer warning on the box?
Since I'm going to die anyway, should I just stay at home all day and not do anything except eat my 5 portions of fruit & veg and cry softly about Cancer? Well sorry, I'll have all day for that shit when I get Cancer. But now, I'd rather not think about it, if that's alright with you, my Lord and Savior.
"...what if you do have Cancer? Are you going to consider it helpful ..."
If you DO have cancer, and you find out about it because you checked yourself because of one of these things, then you might have a chance of getting rid of it before it kills you...
So I guess that you might find it helpful.
If however you want to remain ignorant, I'd suggest going back to eating all your food uncooked, never washing your hands and drinking everything you find in a bottle.
Slippery slope thinking on your part now, I reckon.
Personally I think it's a loopy idea, adult women should (but probably don't all do) check themselves out regularly and elderly men should be probably visiting their GP's for regular check-ups anyways.
But it's not a bad idea in itself.
People don't often do what is good for them.
If it even saves only *ONE* life, I think we can all agree it might be worth it putting up with an extra ugly tag or panel on the packaging of one's knickers.
São Paulo gynecologist Gilberto Goncalves Gatti, though, reckons the plan will work the same way cigarette pack health warnings do. He said: "People do not look at it every time, but it always has people talking about it. I think the project will aid in the prevention of these cancers."
is it really true that nasty pictures and warnings on cigarette packages works? I thought they didn't really work at all. After all, a person with a nicotine habit is hardly likely to worry about a picture of a cancerous lung or a few words. If he doesn't already know what cigarettes do, he's really pretty think anyway.
It's always hard to predict if a particular advertising campaign will work well, but yes, anti-smoking campaigns based on nasty pictures and warnings have long been known to work well.
The cigarette companies fought successfully for many years to prevent negative advertising because it worked so well against them.
In contrast, it was well known that eliminating cigarette company television advertising was not going to have immediate effect on smoking rates, and indeed it did not. Here in AUS, the advertising budget was redirected from TV to print media, leading to a golden age of magazine publishing, and a massive increase in female smoking rates.
So what else are they going to slap a warning on next?
On car windscreens to warn people to put their seat belts on?
On the bottom of glasses to warn about the dangers of alcohol?
On fast food/pisa boxes warning about gluttony?
On bank notes to warn about the problems of overspending?
Etc.
"Enjoy Meths Responsibly"
(Americans note, not "meth".)
Google that and the first raesult is http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/
I'm not the person to say that they seriously mean it, but it's there.
In the advert space on the right, however, there is this:
Methylated Spirits
Low prices on Methylated Spirits.
Free UK Delivery on Amazon Orders
amazon.co.uk is rated * * * * *
www.amazon.co.uk/methylated spirits
Proper organised education would be better, but it's hard enough teaching adults (or even schoolchildren) how to inspect their naughty bits in this country let alone Brazil.
A bit of a gimmick but a good one. Of course, effectiveness will reduce as people get used to it, much like cigarette warnings.
This is really health advice rather than a health warning, so it is not quite the same as the fag packets. It is a nice idea to raise the public's awareness of some important health issues.
Have a regular grope of your sweater puppies / chicken skin handbag, and go to the doc's if you find any lumps.
The fact that it is conveyed via the medium of pants does not diminish the usefulness of the advice.
"...but it's hard enough teaching adults (or even schoolchildren) how to inspect their naughty bits in this country..."
Proof right there, with the word 'naughty'
Now, if we can somehow construct a class action suit against Wacky Smith and her ilk, that would make my day.
Important difference between these labels and cigarette pack labels: you only look at underwear packages a couple of times at most (when you buy, when you open) and then not again until you replace the enclosed item(s), which is presumably not the next day. The label on a pack of cigarettes will be in front of your eyes every time you take out the pack for another smoke...
And besides, who actually looks at anything beyond the size, type, and price on a pack of underwear?
"São Paulo gynecologist Gilberto Goncalves Gatti, though, reckons the plan will work the same way cigarette pack health warnings do."
I remember when warning labels on cigarette packs finally ended all smoking. What year was that... ohh right nobody has ever quit smoking because of those labels. But hey, while we're putting random unrelated health warnings on clothes, I think all food should labeled to remind us to brush our teeth. Maybe we could print warnings on toilet paper to check our assholes for lumps. Maybe we could put warnings on beer that remind us to hold our breath while we drink etc.
At work, there's a regular campaign around november for men to check for testicular and prostate cancers. I've always said "that sounds like a good-night-in"!!
Mine's the one with the pair of period pants and the tube of Germoloids in the pocket.