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Community Spotlight: The IBD Commercial Contest

I'm trying something new. On Fridays, I'm going to highlight something happening in the Crohn's community, either online or IRL. Us crohnies are always up to something interesting and I want to make sure I'm doing my part to support other bloggers, activists, tweeters, and anyone else who is out there trying to raise awareness for IBD. I'm currently trying to think up a snappy name for this series, but nothing's coming to mind yet. I'll get back to you. Anyway, here goes.

Earlier this week I received an email from Crohn's Disease Support Network (CDSN) announcing that they are partnering with A Girl With Guts to hold The IBD Commercial Contest. I'm sure most of you have seen the "Living With Crohn's Disease" commercial. If not, here it is:




This commercial, for most of us actually living with Crohn's, is at best vaguely irritating, and at worst completely infuriating. It does little to show the actual experience of Crohn's. The actors throw out vague phrases like "the pain is bad" and "so many pills." While these are valid concerns for a Crohn's patient, they don't actually say much of anything. Yup, Crohn's is painful and lots of people have to take a bunch of pills, but there are people everywhere figuring it out and working really hard to find solutions that allow them to live full lives. For many of us, this is the experience of living with Crohn's. It is certainly not sitting around, looking drearily off into the distance while melancholic music plays in the background. At least not often. Okay, I might have done it once...

And then there's the announcer. "If you're on medication and still having flares, your Crohn's Disease may not be under control." No way. Really? You mean that the "so many pills" are supposed to keep the pain that "is bad" in check? Oh, I see. Thanks, random dude telling me what my disease is supposed to feel like. I appreciate you clearing that up for me.

Oi vey.

So, as a way to let people speak out about what living with IBD is really like, CDSN and A Girl With Guts have teamed up for The IBD Commercial Contest. This contest is not Crohn's specific, it is for anyone with any Inflammatory Bowel Disease. They are encouraging any type of video; comedic or dramatic, sing a song or draw a cartoon. The only limits are that the video must be under 60 seconds and cannot contain adult language or nudity, so keep it family-friendly.

To enter the contest, make a video and send an application (found here) to either CDSN or A Girl With Guts by April 8th. They'll send you back login info for the contest's YouTube page. From there, people can watch and vote for your video from April 9th to April 23rd! 1st-3rd places win super cool prizes.

I hope you all enter! Let me know if you do. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on the YouTube Channel. Happy creating!
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