Description: by Nancy Walton
A few weeks ago, I wrote a guest blog entry for the truly fabulous blog Fit, Feminist and Fifty (which if you are not reading regularly, well, you should be). The blog entry was about my own reactions to and reflections upon the new ad campaign for SickKids Hospital in Toronto. If you haven’t seen the new ad, take a look here , it’s worth it.
I’m not going to repeat my blog entry here, but wanted to further reflect on the thoughts and discussions I’ve had and have read since publishing the blog entry, based on social media discussions and commentaries as well as others in the wider media, including Andre Picard’s take on the ad in the Globe and Mail along with Louise Kinross’ views on the ad as published in the Holland Bloorview Bloom newsletter.
When I first wrote about the ad campaign, I really feel that I stepped outside of my own comfort zone. As I said in the blog entry, I didn’t want to like the ad. I actually felt a vague sense of unease and betrayal-of-self when I watched it and it both moved and compelled me. The language and imagery of “victory” and “fighting” illness or disability, implies both winners and, inevitably, for those who are ill and are worsening or for those perhaps living with chronicity, it implies non-winners, or (it’s har