Comedian Stephen Colbert created the Wrist Strong bracelet to raise awareness of wrist violence after breaking his own wrist. The bracelet is a gentle mockery of silicone bracelets for various causes and proceeds are donated to the Yellow Ribbon Fund. Over 30,000 bracelets have been sold, with $171,525 donated to the charity. The bracelet is also an insider password for Colbert fans and can be used to raise awareness of wrist violence among celebrities.
A Wrist Strong bracelet is a silicone wrist accessory created by comedian Stephen Colbert to raise awareness of wrist violence. After a tragic incident in which Colbert broke his wrist, he invented the bracelet to combat Hollywood’s depictions of violence on hands and wrists. The invention of the tongue and cheek actually serves a higher purpose, with part of the proceeds from the bracelets donated to the Yellow Ribbon Fund.
In June 2007, Colbert was warming up an audience before taping his show, Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report. As he ran around the stage and waved his arms, he tripped and fell into the audience, breaking his left wrist. Colbert continued to tape his show and then sought medical attention, ending up with a cast on his left arm.
As part of his show, Colbert began vehemently complaining about wrist abuse in film and television, often showing clips of people breaking their arms or losing their hands in movies. He also developed a fake addiction to painkillers and pretended to swallow whole bottles of medicine during the show. As part of his plan to raise awareness of wrist violence, he began giving his audience free Wrist Strong bracelets and on August 20, 2007, made them available for purchase on his website, www.colbertnation.com .
The bracelets are a gentle mockery of the Hollywood fad of wearing colorful silicone bracelets for various good causes. Specifically, this bracelet appears to be aimed at biker Lance Armstrong’s LiveStrong bracelet, which benefited cancer research. Colbert quickly began urging celebrities to wear a Wrist Strong bracelet, with some success. Matt Lauer, Al Franken, Matt Perry, Al Gore and even Salman Rushdie were photographed showing their support for the fight against wrist violence.
You can support the purchase of wrist awareness by purchasing your Wrist Strong bracelet on the Stephen Colbert website. The bright red wristbands are attractively priced at $7.50 US Dollars (USD), of which $5 USD will be donated to the Yellow Ribbon Fund. This charity supports and helps wounded US Veterans from all branches of the US military. As of January 23, 2008, more than 30,000 bracelets have been sold. That day, Colbert presented a check for the proceeds of the bracelets and the money raised from the auction of his cast to the Yellow Ribbon Fund’s director of communications totaling $171,525 USD.
Buying a Wrist Strong bracelet not only supports a good cause, it’s also an insider password for other Colbert fans. If you’d like to get into debates about the best Word of the Day, whether bears really are godless killing machines, and what the truth really means, proudly displaying your bracelet is a great icebreaker. Colbert has requested that you agree to immediately surrender your bracelet to any famous person you meet, in hopes of raising awareness of wrist violence in the highest circles.
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