Even Superheroes Get Cancer
When stricken by a deadly disease, the world's greatest doctors developed a Superformula to help Batman recover his strength. After recieving his intravenous treatment, it wasn't long before he was back fighting super villains whenever the bat signal lit up Gotham's night sky.
To a child, cancer must seem like some kind of cartoon nightmare they can't control or understand, but "as any good cancer doctor will tell you, the most important step in fighting the disease is believing in a cure," reports Buzz Feed who recently featured an article about rebranding Chemotherapy at a Children's Cancer Center in Brazil.
The cancer "Superformula" now comes in intravenous bag covers featuring the iconic WonderWoman, Batman, Green Lantern, and Superman logos.
In addition to the Superformula, young patients can read comics about how their favorite superhero battled cancer --and survived. Even the children's ward has been redesigned as the Hall of Justice where our most vulnerable super heroes have their own entrance to their secret Lair of Cures.
Warner Bros., the ad agency JWT, and doctors designed the campaign as a way to help children understand their disease, its challenges, and its cure as these young patients fight the real world's greatest super villain.
But all superheros need a uniform. How would you design a superhero uniform for our doctors and nurses as they deliver the Superformula to our young heroes?
I never heard this story before or that superheroes got cancer but I'm glad I came across this here. It is an amazing story and I'm glad that somebody is doing something like this. Other hospitals should do something similar to this so their children's hospital wings do not look so sad or drab. Making the area look more colorful and superhero-esque may even change the children's mood and make them smile. Also knowing that superheroes have gone through cancer may motivate them to pull through it and increase their morale. Maybe they should even have the doctors dress up as the patients sidekick.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article, I have gained more respect for the Warner Bros, the ad agency JWT, and the doctors involved in creating this campaign for children. Cancer is a disease that no child or person should ever have to battle. Creating superformulas, comics, and secret lairs does not only give children confidence to keep fighting Cancer, but it gives each of them hope that they will get better soon.
ReplyDeleteIf more hospitals did take part in the campaign, kids would feel more comfortable going in for treatments. If I were to design a superhero uniform, I would think about what the doctors and nurse’s personalities are like and design a colorful uniform that shows off who they are. I would also have each doctor and nurse have some kind of “weapon” that would help fight off cancer, along with the formula.
This is a very inspiring story, and a great idea. I salute Warner bros for making this idea come to life. Cancer doesn't discriminate,and it is a terrible thing for anyone to be struck with the disease, but for these kids, even more so than adults, I'm sure there is a lot of uncertainty and fear involved. For the kids to see that this sort of thing could happen to anyone, even superheroes that millions of people look up to, I'm sure is very encouraging. This is a very touching thing, and I believe it must fill these kids with hope and give more will power to keep fighting. These kids need to believe they can overcome their disease, and I believe this is a very nice step towards that. I hope that more hospitals follow suit and try to do something similar.
ReplyDeleteI think it can be perfect motivation to overcome cancers for young patients. Actually, I have no idea about the story which is superheroes got cancer in cartoons. Using and applying this story for young patients, that surely encourages them to cure their cancer. Young patients might feel dread about the processes of curing, but "Superfomula" will make their fear decrease. I surely agree with Christian Arroyo who made a comment before me about the doctors dress up as the patients sidekick. Dressing up like professional doctors stand for superheroes will give young patients happiness and gladness.
ReplyDeleteI love this concept, it is very heartwarming to know how much people love their jobs and care about others. These doctors don't seem to care how long it takes, or how much hard work they have to put in, just to make a difference in a child's life. I agree with the part where they say "...the most important step in fighting the disease is believing in a cure". Once they gets these kids to believe, they are already on the path to being healthy. The doctors should wear costumes like Robin, or Catwoman. They should dress like the sidekicks, not the main superheroes.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a wonderful concept. I personally love comics! If I were to ever be diagnosed cancer or another intense disease this is how I would like to be treated. I would love to read comics and get my own Superformula to treat me. This would be the most inspiring and upbringing way to be treated. I have heard that keeping a strong will and having a positive outlook during the treatment is one of the best forms of treatment. This would definitely make me smile and keep my head up during the battle...Against evil!
ReplyDeleteI think that is the cutest thing I have ever read. I love the fact that they are trying to make children who have cancer feel like they are being treated like super heroes. I also think it so adorable that the children with cancer get to read about super heroes with cancer, I think that would make them feel more at peace and make them feel better. I know if I was a child I would want to read about someone I look up to having the same disease and be given the same thing as them. It would also be cool if the patient got a super hero costume to dress up as so they could fully emerge themselves into that hero. So cute!
ReplyDeleteI believe this can be a very helpful thing for all the kids who are fighting cancer. Doctors can explain to them what cancer is and that they need to fight it in order to cure it but they still won't quite understand it or be really scared. Using famous superheroes as examples can help them be motivated and not so scared when fighting their way out of cancer. The way doctors can dress up is by having different costumes of different super heroes and ask the kids what super hero do they want to be saved from. The doctor dresses up as the super hero the kid chooses. This is a very kind thing to do to help children with their battle with cancer. Every hospital should do this.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really neat idea. To have comics about superheros fighting cancer. Its a great motivator for kids, to see their favorite heroes fighting cancer allows the children to relate with superman and batman. And reading these comics can give the kids an example to keep fighting cancer, and also see the same struggles their heroes suffer with them. And doctors and nurses should ask kids what superhero they want to come share their tale of beating cancer. So every so often children can look forward to a hero coming and telling their near death experience with one of the worst villains in the medical field, cancer.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a great way to give kids strength and hope to fight there cancer. Cancer is a very difficult and depressing topic to deal with but kids love comics and superhero's so that makes them feel better then if they were given medicine that had a bland look and would scare them. The medicine that comes in the superhero boxes are a magnificent idea. I think that even adults should be given there medicine disguised as superhero medicine just because it might make them laugh and forget for a little while that they have this cancer. I think that the doctors should get there own custom made doctor coats but designed with a different superhero printed all over the coat. Every doctor should be a different superhero so they can talk to there patient in there own way as that kind of superhero would talk in the comics.
ReplyDeleteI simply applaud Warner Bros. for their contribution and support. Growing up I had a cousin who battled cancer and was just shut in the hospital for years. Whenever I visited her I saw the boring pale white walls which made the place seem so depressing. Warner Bros. doing this for the sick kids will definitely help them get better because being optimistic and having positive energy helps fight cancer. I love how DC comics made the Superformula as a way for kids to identify and relate to their heroes. The Superformula campaign will help the kids not be so afraid of what is happening to them. I think the doctors should dress up as the superhero of the kid's choice when delivering the Superformula.Every children's hospital should participate in this campaign.
ReplyDeleteI applaud all those involved for coming up with this idea, hospitals are scary even when you're only visiting, I can hardly imagine how it feels to be a patient. Like a lot of people already know, cancer can become a very long battle and after a while some just lose hope, its hope alone and the belief that you will be cured that helps you get through it all and honestly i couldn't have thought of anything better to keep the kids motivated. Personally, I think they should have the doctors dress up in what the parents choose, they're the ones that plan their kids' birthday parties and buy all their toys they should know what superhero they look up to.
ReplyDeleteThis is a revolutionary idea to help the kids battle cancer. I applaud all the people who is brave enough to take care of all this little angels in this process and give them all the energy that they need. I think that our mind is so powerful and everything is possible we just need to believe. Superheroes are a possibility that something extraordinary could be possible. Personally, I think that if the nurses and doctors don't want to wear the superheroes customs that we know already they should create a kind of mix among all the principal characteristics that normally all of this uniforms have.
ReplyDeleteThis is not the first time that I have heard of this idea. I believe this is simply amazing. It is a great way to keep these kids motivated and striving. Each superhero has a story to tell and all these kids battling cancer do to. A superhero to a child is the belief of something extraordinary. If a child gets to see that they to are considered a superhero, it can boost their motivation and encourage them to fight harder. The doctor can play the role of a child's favorite superhero and explain to them why they are just like them and change a child's view and help them save their lives. In regards to costumes, I believe the staff should investigate what the child likes and what superhero they look up to.
ReplyDeleteJust another unique way to battle what some may consider, the most difficult thing to overcome as a human being. This idea just tells me that there is some thing out that the normal human mind can't quite understand. How much does it mean to a child dealing with cancer to see his or her favorite super hero being presenting them their fix for their ailment? I would assume so much to where one can almost have a glimmer of hope that that "villain" has no chance in battling the war within a patient.
ReplyDeleteI think that is a cool way to keep these kids to motivated and striving. A superhero to a kid is like a big thing to them. Kids from all ages look up to them and wants to be like them. Kids would pick there favorite superhero and act like they are them. And having the doctors can be like superheros too by helping the kids that have cancer to motivate them.
ReplyDeleteAt first i thought the boxes were lunch boxes, but then i read the article and whoa it blew my mind. I believe its a great way to keep kids motivated and gives them hope because they will see that their hero's can over come there problems and so can they. I think it would be interesting to see this approach cross over into other areas of medicine such as kids dealing with deformities and/or lost appendages.
ReplyDeleteAs a fan of Marvel, the answer to your question comes easily. I personally would have the patients main doctor pose as Director Fury, leaving the nurses and fellows to pose as agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The “agents” could act as if their mission, given to them by Director Fury, was to cure the child’s cancer. There could be an event where Hydra could infiltrate the hospital and once a year, they could have some sort of battle with Hydra to entertain the kids. Hydra could be the anesthesiologist, or the night nurses versus the day nurses. If they really wanted to put on a good show, they could also have someone pose as Captain America and save the day.
ReplyDeleteStudying to hopefully be a doctor in the future, I believe this is a great idea. Your immune system does have a positive correlation when you actively believe that you will get better. That being said, kids love superheroes and if it was me, I would be more than happy to wear a slight mask, cape, have a superhero logo on my shirt, and walk around to deliver the Superformula to kids. A good environment is an excellent way for these kids have hope and continue fighting.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this idea is definitely something special. I have never personally had to be hospitalized for an illness however my younger brother has due to his heart condition. Between the ages of 2 and 6 my brother was in the hospital off and on and he hated there. It wasn't that the doctors or nurses weren't nice or the fact that he couldn't just run around and play it was more so because he knew something was wrong with him. I believe that if they would have had some type of program like this when my brother was in the hospital his experience would have been a lot different. Instead of fearing the hospital like he does today he may have actually enjoy it or at least be able to tolerate it better. Any illness where a child has to be placed under medical attention is terrible. Kids are suppose to be able to just be kids, to play, run around, and just have fun. Taking a big scary hospital and flooding it with images of their favorite super heroes and making them feel as if they are super heroes is amazing. It really makes me appreciate the medical system for going above and beyond to not only try to cure their young patients but treat them for what they really are super heroes.
ReplyDeleteI find this campaign amazing, how warner bros and hospitals can come together and help children with the process of battling with cancer. I am in love with Batman and the Justice League, so knowing that these children could have "superformula" coming out of an icon superhero case, while in the "Hall of Justice" is just outstanding.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the first step in fighting cancer is believing in the cure, in this case the "superformula" and who will make this "superformula" believable? The doctors and nurse wearing a uniform will, a uniform design that will represent what they stand for and what they believe in. As they run to the rescue of these children, its the hope that will save them.
This article really brought joy to me. The fact that Warner Brothers would do something like this to help children that suffer from cancer. When you are a kid your imagination is huge. Especially when kids think about super heroes. To them a superhero is are everything. They want to grow up and be a superhero. Now can you imagine what a kids with cancer is thinking when they believe they are getting batman's super-formula? or superman's super-formula. They are going to be excited and have hope they will get better. The first step in fighting a disease like cancer is you need to believe and have hope that you can get better. Something that also helps along with the super-formula is when they read the comic books to the children of a superhero also fighting cancer and getting better. Imagine when a kid hears about a superhero in the same position they are and are given the same super-formula that batman was given when he was fighting cancer. This is honestly a beautiful thing to me. Kids do not know why they have cancer and are forced to do everything they have to do. But they will believe more if they know someone with super strength has fought and survived cancer. The idea that I came up with for a doctor superhero uniform is, I would give the doctors a superhero shirt to wear under their doctor uniform were they show the kids that they are the superhero but they work as doctor and cannot be in their superhero costume at the hospital. That way they believe that the doctor was the superhero that also fought cancer as a superhero.
ReplyDeleteI’ve seen the picture of chemotherapy dress in superhero costumes many times before on social media, like Twitter and Tumblr, but I’ve never taken the time to actually read more about it. This campaign at a Children’s Cancer Center in Brazil is inspirational. Two close family members of mine have had cancer, my aunt who was 52 and my little cousin who was 3 at the time. I’ve been to Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach and I instantly fell in love. The nurses were encouraged to wear colorful scrubs, add streaks of colors in their hair, and even paint their nails all sorts of colors, because it made the visits fun for the little patients and their families. On the other hand, I went with my aunt to one of her chemotherapy sessions and it wasn’t as welcoming: standard uniforms, no color on the walls. I think it shouldn’t stop at children; no one should have to get cancer so why not make it easier on everyone by letting them forget that they are sick, for even a day. Superheroes and comics are for all ages so by providing these simple options to disguise chemotherapy machine at cancer centers could make someone’s day a little better than before.
ReplyDeleteReading this made me think that, yes there are superheros in this everyday life, these doctors and nurses, but honestly why change their uniforms ? They are heroes themselves in their uniforms they are already in their superhero costumes, why change that?
ReplyDeleteI get they designed the hospital for these kids superhero themed to help with their hopes and their fight against cancer, but i honestly wouldn't change the doctors and nurses outfits because these kids need to be able to depict that there are more then comic book heroes that there are real life superheros that save lives and fight crime everyday. Why make them think one thing and then have to teach them another ? it takes tpo much time, and time is money.
This is the first time I hear about this idea. But, It seems that the doctors need to put on a super hero costume to give the children hope in being cured. When someone is battling cancer truly need is to believe in getting cured, which better super hero than a doctor a nurse to come to the rescue. If this idea took off, it would most likely be once a year because it will take time for the doctors to change into different costumes to please the children. I remember when my little cousin was doing chemotherapy his room was full of life and his face was lite up with a huge smile. He had family coming to visit often and his siblings coming over making him feel normal and safe. But, in his eyes the doctors, the nurses and God were his hero. No uniform will ever determined the work that an actual hero has to face.
ReplyDeleteReading this made me think that, yes there are superheros in this everyday life, these doctors and nurses, but honestly why change their uniforms ? They are heroes themselves in their uniforms they are already in their superhero costumes, why change that?
ReplyDeleteI get they designed the hospital for these kids superhero themed to help with their hopes and their fight against cancer, but i honestly wouldn't change the doctors and nurses outfits because these kids need to be able to depict that there are more then comic book heroes that there are real life superheros that save lives and fight crime everyday. Why make them think one thing and then have to teach them another ? it takes tpo much time, and time is money.
This concept helped restore some of my faith in humanity. Showing younger children that no one is safe from cancer makes them feel less alone which helps their mind overcome such a horrible disease. Acts like this are what can help push patients to have hope. to have something to look forward to. It then becomes a question of how stronger do I have to be to vanquish cancer as opposed to someone who has lost all hope just waiting for their life to slip away.
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