Kiwi celebs give Blood Cancers the Silent Treatment

Kiwi celebs give Blood Cancers the Silent Treatment

When asked who they’d want to be silent for a week, comedian and TV star Paul Ego replied, “probably myself – I’d like to see myself shut up for a while” a thought echoed by 7DAYS co-star Jeremy Corbett who replied “I agree with Paul.”

This week they’ll get the chance alongside other famous Kiwis who’ll use their celebrity clout to encourage New Zealanders across the country to go silent as part of The Silent Treatment Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand’s campaign on Facebook to mark Blood Cancer Awareness Week.

Every four hours a New Zealander is diagnosed with blood cancer or a related blood condition – despite this most New Zealanders don’t understand or even know about these conditions. What’s more, people often choose not to reveal their diagnosis to their friends, work colleagues or even their families. This lack of awareness of blood cancers such as lymphoma, myeloma and leukaemia, means that they may become silent killers.

To help change this Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand (LBC) is launching The Silent Treatment on Monday 4 November with a series of TV commercials staring high profile Kiwis well known for speaking their minds. Only this time, you will uncharacteristically find them silent as they ask the rest of New Zealand to join them – so together our silence can speak volumes about blood cancers.

Joining the silence is easy – all that’s needed is a commitment to going silent for as long as they can on Facebook. Once they activate The Silent Treatment Facebook app users will be timed to see how long they can remain silent, and reminder posts will get the message to their family and friends about the impact blood cancers are having thousands of Kiwi families. At the end of the week (or earlier if they can’t resist the temptation) the silence will be broken and we’ll see just how much time New Zealanders have given to support this cause and how wide the awareness of blood cancers has spread.

“Everyone has a friend or two they’d like to go silent on Facebook” says LBC CEO Pru Etcheverry. “Now they can subtly suggest they do – for a good cause!”

People wishing to get involved in the Silent Treatment can find out more information at silenttreatment.co.nz or by visiting the LBC’s Facebook page, facebook.com/LBFNZ

The Campaign runs from 04 – 10 November 2013 and stars Jeremy Corbett, Paul Ego, Jay-Jay Feeney, Dom Harvey, Andy Hayden, Peter “The Mad Butcher” Leitch, Urzila Carlson, Hilary Barry Toni Street and Peter Urlich.

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