When Ugg boots and little Louis Vuitton purses are shoved into the back of dorm closets and replaced with spring's frilly short skirts and low cut tops, one fashion statement will remain: the yellow LIVESTRONG bracelets.
Worn by everyone from college students and professors to Hollywood stars and presidential candidates, the yellow, silicon band has been everywhere since its launch in May.
The trend began when Nike and the Lance Armstrong Foundation created the $1 bracelets to raise money for cancer research and awareness. The Foundation, named after cancer survivor and six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong hoped to sell five million. To date, they have sold 31 million and counting.
And like any trend with the possibility of profit, the LIVESTRONG bracelet has created many impostors.
A few worthy causes followed the bracelet craze, including the $1 black "Rock the Arts" bracelet available at Hot Topic, which gives profits to music programs in schools. Or the pending ASU tsunami relief bracelets coming to the bookstore.
But would we be so eager to buy a bracelet if it cost $5? $10? How about $20? The "bracelet causes" such as cancer research and saving Darfur are in dire need of funding, and buying a one-dollar bracelet is great...for a start.
Wearing a bracelet might make you sleep better at night -- thinking that you have already made your contribution, but no disease has been conquered and no peace treaty signed because of the rubber bands on our wrists.
Still, the craze continues as more and more retailers take the trend and instead of keeping the bracelet a sign of support for serious causes, turn them into simple moneymaking schemes.
Local gas stations offer racks of bracelets with such phrases as "Hope" and "Stability."
Foot Locker has created a set of four colored bracelets selling for $3.99 a set. They're called "baller bands."
Then there is the Spencer's Gifts version of the bracelet, available for $1.99, with deep and powerful messages such as "Drama Queen" and "Worship Me."
Some companies even began customizing the bracelets, with popular demands being "Live Wrong" and "Drink Strong."
People who wear those should get their asses kicked.
But if those don't seem a little over the top to you, consider the Conservative Values Bracelet, available on the Internet. It depicts a cross, a "traditional" family, a fetus, a flag and a gun.
Wearing that should get you an ass-kicking too.
What started as a reminder of struggle and triumph has become a reminder of our pride in psychological dysfunction and close-minded political views. Retailers across the country are even making exact replicas of the LIVESTRONG bracelet, with no profits going toward charity.
It's hard to think of how low profit-driven corporations are willing to sink to exploit a pure and dignified cause.
But the corporations aren't the only ones to blame. It is the responsibility of consumers to know what they are buying and what statement they are making by wearing the bands.
Although it seems like a hassle to do research on something that costs a dollar, think of what a difference that money could make when placed in the hands of a research lab as opposed to a CEO's bank account.
Wearing a bracelet that contributes to a serious cause not only gives money to a charity, but also serves as a daily reminder that we ought to be strong in the face of our own personal adversities and to be grateful for what we have.
The refusal to buy a bracelet whose maker is questionable or that carries no message other than an announcement of your personal issues or political prejudices is an affirmation of your ability to say no to greed and yes to generosity.
And that's always in style.
Lucia Bill is a political science and journalism sophomore. Reach her at lucia.bill@asu.edu.
