Rubber band bracelets: be in the loop

© Copyright 2005 Shannan Barrett

Those colorful loops of rubber should be quite familiar to you by
now. Yes, we are talking about rubber band bracelets. They have
become ubiquitous in the last couple of years. You can see them
on the wrists of Tsunami aid workers, citizens campaigning for a
cause, and even the on wrists of school children.

The rubber band bracelets have become the most-preferred and
the most inexpensive way to show your support for a cause, or to
donate to charity, or to raise awareness about an issue or a
disease. You can see them used for extremely different purposes,
such as to proclaim one's religious affiliation, or as a fashion
statement! The rubber band bracelet is the modern way of
wearing your heart on your sleeve, er wrist!

What are rubber band bracelets? They are simply loops of solid
rubber, worn on the wrist by stretching and sliding them over the
palm of one's hands. They come in any color imaginable -- yellow,
orange, blue, green, black, pink... Some are translucent, others
glow in the dark... And they are worn in support of many a
message or cause -- they are as versatile as they are stretchable!
Not all rubber band bracelets are rubber, though. Some of them
are made of silicone.

You can have any message stamped over the rubber band
bracelets, or designs crafted on them. In fact, some of the latest
rubber band bracelets sport more than one message! Rubber band
bracelets usually sell for $1-5 a piece, and can be ordered online
from many Web sites, in multiples of five hundred, or smaller packs
of a dozen or more. The manufacturers often give discounts for the
larger orders.

The most famous of the rubber band bracelets is the yellow
'Livestrong' wristband worn by cycling champion and cancer
survivor Lance Armstrong. The pink ones are worn to show support
to breast cancer patients. SHeDAISY's 'Come Home Soon' yellow
rubber band bracelets (named for the group's Top 15 single) with
the words 'Come Home Soon' stamped on them are highly popular
among relatives of American servicemen.

The rubber band bracelet is a very useful and inexpensive tool for
crowd control: it is used as a cheap identifying device in restricted
access events attended by large numbers of people, such as music
concerts. The rubber band bracelets are also issued by hospitals to
their patients as identifying devices with some basic medical
information stamped on them.

So what makes these rubber band bracelets so popular?
Sociologists say people have always used amulets in times of
trouble. Now we are just using them in a more positive way. Yes,
rubber band bracelets are more than simple loops of rubber; they
represent the human urge to fight and survive great odds.


Shannan Barrett is an avid reader and market researcher. She dedicates much of her free time helping the underprivileged and finds the charitable aspect of the 'bracelet craze' amazing, especially with Lance Armstrong’s 'Live Strong' foundation. Barrett analyzes what makes people sport rubber band bracelets and comes up with some interesting findings on what makes them so popular. Know more about rubber band bracelets at http://www.a1-awareness-bracelets.com/rubber-band-bracelet.html