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April 30, 2015 at 8:22 pm #817307
RarelyEverParticipantI commute out of West Seattle via the West Seattle bridge. A few days ago I noticed a billboard on the right side close to the I-5 exits that just has the word “CANCER” in black letters on white background. The letters appear to be getting lighter each day – is this going to be followed by an announcement that some sort of company/group/hospital is working on eradicating the disease, or is the weather taking its toll?
I normally don’t care about billboards, but this one’s got me intrigued… any ideas?
April 30, 2015 at 10:01 pm #823900
miwsParticipantThat’s interesting.
It seems the weather wouldn’t take a toll on it that would be detectable on a daily basis. Unless you have absolutely perfect eyesight. ;-)
I wonder if it’s specially treated to fade noticeably daily? I expect it would have to be something that works in just about any weather, so that the daily fading would be consistent.
I kinda doubt they’re sending a crew to change it every night. ;-)
Mike
April 30, 2015 at 11:00 pm #823901
WSBKeymasterThis is another thing that we’ve been asked about a couple times. I wish Clear Channel had a page listing its current outdoor advertisers. I don’t have the bandwidth to chase through their phone tree to ask. Has everyone squinted at it enough to be sure there’s not a company listed in fine print? I luckily don’t have to leave the peninsula often – saw it literally in passing two nights ago but it was raining and I really had to keep eyes on the road, other drivers.
May 1, 2015 at 12:50 am #823902
RarelyEverParticipantI looked very hard for a by-line or footnote, but found nothing. Whoever they are, they’ve got my attention! I’m going on vacation next week and now I’m worried I’ll miss the “big reveal”. :(
May 1, 2015 at 2:20 am #823903
trickycooljParticipantI posted a pic of the billboard on Facebook as it left me scratching my head. A friend replied that Virginia Mason had a similar ice sculpture recently that said CANCER in all block letters. Certainly sparked a conversation but I don’t really get where they’re going with it.
May 1, 2015 at 2:27 am #823904
WSBKeymasterJust speculating wildly … maybe opening a new cancer-care center. Come to think of it, Virginia Mason shot a commercial here some weeks back and played coy when we contacted their marketing department to ask what it was about, promised we’d be the first to know.
https://westseattleblog.com/2015/03/west-seattle-scene-wondering-whats-being-filmed-in-admiral/
The ice sculpture is mentioned here:
https://www.virginiamason.org/body.cfm?id=158&action=detail&ref=3933
May 1, 2015 at 5:45 am #823905
mom2boysParticipantWhen VM lost their group health contract I predicted they would a. Start delivery of babies again Or b. Become a “cancer center” looks like we have the answer.
May 1, 2015 at 11:36 am #823906
GreystreetParticipantI work at VM and according to our interwebs, keep watching that billboard.
May 1, 2015 at 8:08 pm #823907
JKBParticipantCancer’s not until late June. Putting the sign up now is just bull.
May 1, 2015 at 10:50 pm #823908
RarelyEverParticipantGreystreet – I can’t, I’m going out of town! Any hints??
May 2, 2015 at 3:01 am #823909
halfratMemberI find this billboard very disturbing. Many people have lost friends/family to cancer, or are fighting cancer. IMO, this billboard with its negative message should be removed (faster than just “fading” away). If VM is behind this, what it their point??
May 2, 2015 at 7:09 pm #823910
DianeParticipantI travel over to Beacon Hill and Hillman City often for babysitting, and noticed this billboard also; just says CANCER; that’s all; very strange
May 3, 2015 at 4:30 pm #823911
JTBParticipanthalfrat, I can appreciate your discomfort which is presumably in light of personal experience. But I don’t agree that the drawing attention to the existence of cancer is any more negative than the simple fact that it exists and we have to be aware of it. And that leads to the point about the importance of promoting public awareness about any disease in order to have more prevention, detection and treatment. We’ll see what VM does with this, but it may ultimately be a campaign to bring attention to a cancer treatment center. If so, I think it’s fine to let the community know about available resources. If it’s simply to promote cancer awareness in a general way, I would tend to regard that as a service to the community.
May 3, 2015 at 5:05 pm #823912
JKBParticipantVery fine line between ‘raising awareness’ and ‘being all up in everyone’s face about it’. I’d guess nearly everyone knows about cancer, and for many it’s an unpleasant topic.
May 3, 2015 at 11:19 pm #823913
The Velvet BulldogParticipantDrove by the Spokane Viaduct billboard this morning and the black ink is definitely running down from the letters. Kinda makes me wonder if they considered the possibility that it WOULDN’T rain? Perhaps not, this being Seattle and all.
As someone who has lost a number of friends and family to cancer, I’m not sure what I would have thought of the billboard if I hadn’t read this thread first, but I’m sure there would have been a lot of “WTFs” involved.
May 4, 2015 at 6:43 pm #823914
blblParticipantI’m fighting cancer now and I think it’s awesome. It definitely got my attention, and our whole family is watching for the words (and the disease) to disappear.
May 4, 2015 at 9:32 pm #823915
herongrrrlParticipantIt looks like it was done in water-soluble ink, if you look closely while you drive by you can see where it is running off the billboard. Maybe it is meant to dissolve slowly in the rain…which any other spring would have worked by now!
May 4, 2015 at 10:05 pm #823916
kgdlgParticipantThis billboard was very jarring to me having had multiple friends struggle (and pass away) from cancer in recent years.
However, I imagine that whatever healthcare organization is sponsoring it is either going to make some message appear as this one fades (cancer fading is a pretty bold message)and then some PR campaign will be unleashed as this happens. Just my guesses. I am intrigued to watch it unfold now. Which is probably the whole point!
May 5, 2015 at 10:41 pm #823917
B-squaredParticipantThere is a similar one on 99 which you would see heading south after the Aurora bridge and it is definitely fading – the ink is actually running down like it’s being washed away. Perhaps that is the point.
May 8, 2015 at 4:02 am #823918May 8, 2015 at 7:37 am #823919
WSBKeymasterThanks for flagging that. I need to e-mail them because they don’t attribute the first post in this thread. WSB is not “social media.” It’s a news/discussion website. And also, good job to the first tipster upthread! – TR
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