The Livestrong wristband is a yellow silicone wristband (a gel bracelet) launched in May of 2004 as a fund-raising item for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, founded by cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong. The wristband itself was developed by Nike and their ad agencyWieden+Kennedy.
The band is part of the "Wear Yellow Live Strong" educational program. The program is intended to raise money for cancer research, raise cancer awareness, and encourage people to live life to the fullest. The band sells individually, as well as in packs of 10, 100, and 1,200 as part of an effort to raise $25.1 million for the Lance Armstrong FoundationComeback 2.0: Up Close and Personal
in cooperation with Nikewho manufactures the "live strong" bands in Austin, Texas the home of Lance Armstrong and other world wide manufacturing plants and sells the wristbands through their Nike outlets worldwide. This target was achieved within 6 months, and there have now been 70 million Livestrong bands sold to date. Individual bands sell for US$1 each.Yellow was chosen for its importance in professional cycling, as it is the color of the yellow jersey worn by the leader of the Tour de France. Other charities were inspired by the success of the Livestrong bracelets, and many charities have developed their own wristbands for raising money and awareness.The band became an extremely popular item in the United States by the end of the summer of 2004, especially among those following Armstrong's Tour de France effort. They soon gained immense popularity worldwide. It first appeared on a majority of the contenders at the2004 Tour de France. Personalities such as 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, news anchor Katie Couric, actor Matt Damon, and several athletes at the Athens Olympic Games wore the band. Appearances on and endorsements by popular TV shows such as Oprah, also raised its profile enormously.
On an August 2007 edition of the satirical television show The Colbert Report (where Armstrong made a guest appearance), Stephen Colbertparodied the wristband, creating the "Wriststrong" wristband, in his growing campaign against "Wrist violence".In The Office episode "Michael's Birthday," Michael creates a makeshift Livestrong wristband out of yellow paper upon finding out that Kevinis at risk for skin cancer.In December of 2009, Ben Stiller parodied the Livestrong bracelets with the introduction of STILLERSTRONG headbands to raise money to build a school in Haiti in partnership with Save the Children.
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