Contagious Why Things Catch On

behavioral residue.
LIVESTRONG WRISTBANDS AS BEHAVIORAL RESIDUE
Scott MacEachern had a tough decision to make. In 2003, Lance Armstrong was a hot commodity. As
his sponsor at Nike, MacEachern was trying to figure out the best way to harness all the attention
Lance was getting.
Lance had a powerful story. Diagnosed with life-threatening testicular cancer seven years earlier,
Lance had been given only a 40 percent chance of survival. But he surprised everyone not only by
returning to cycling, but by coming back stronger than ever. Since his return, he had won the Tour de
France an astounding five times in a row and inspired millions of people along the way. From fifteen-
year-olds dealing with cancer to college students trying to stay in shape, Lance helped people to
believe. If he could come back from cancer, they could overcome the challenges in their own lives.
(Note that in the decade since 2003, it has become apparent that Armstrong may have achieved his
success through the use of performance-enhancing drugs. But given the powerful success of
Livestrong wristbands, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation more generally, it is worth considering
how they became popular, outside of whether Armstrong’s personal story is tainted or not.)
MacEachern wanted to capitalize on this enthusiasm. Lance had transcended sports. He had
become not only a hero, but a cultural icon. MacEachern wanted to recognize Lance’s achievements
and celebrate his upcoming attempt at a record sixth Tour de France victory. He also wanted to use
the outpouring of interest and support to raise funds and awareness for the Lance Armstrong
Foundation.
MacEachern developed two potential ideas.
The first idea was a bike ride across America. People would set a mileage goal for themselves and
get friends or family members to sponsor their ride. It would get more people to exercise, boost
interest in cycling, and raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Lance might even do part of
the trip. The event would take weeks and likely garner significant media coverage both nationally and
locally in all the cities the ride covered.
The second idea was a wristband. Nike had recently begun selling Baller Bands, silicone rubber
bands with inspirational messages like “TEAM” or “RESPECT” on the inside. Basketball players
wore them to stay focused and increase motivation. Why not make a wristband focused on
Armstrong? Nike could make 5 million of the bands, sell them for a dollar each, and give all the
proceeds to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
MacEachern liked the wristband idea, but when he pitched it to Lance’s advisors they weren’t
convinced. The foundation thought the bands would be a dud. Bill Stapleton, Armstrong’s agent,
thought they had no chance of success and called them “a stupid idea.” Even Armstrong was
incredulous, saying, “What are we going to do with the 4.9 million that we don’t sell?”
MacEachern was stuck. While he liked the wristband idea, he wasn’t sure it would fly. But then he
made one seemingly innocuous decision that had a big impact on the product’s success. MacEachern
made the wristbands yellow.
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Yellow was chosen because it is the color of the race leader’s jersey in the Tour de France. It’s
also not strongly associated with either gender, making it easy for both men and women to wear.
But it was also a smart decision from an observability perspective. Yellow is a color people

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almost never see.
And it is striking. Yellow stands out against almost anything people wear, making it easy to see a
Livestrong wristband from far away.
This public visibility helped make the product a huge success. Not only did Nike sell the first 5
million bands, but it did so within the first six months of release. Production couldn’t keep up with
demand. The wristbands were such a hot item that people started bidding ten times the retail price to
snag them on eBay. In the end, more than 85 million wristbands were sold. You might even know
someone who wears one to this day. Not bad for a little piece of plastic.
It’s hard to know how well the ride across America would have done if Nike had implemented it.
And it’s easy to Monday-morning-quarterback a successful strategy and say it was obviously the
better choice. But regardless, one thing is clear: the wristband creates more behavioral residue than
the cross-country ride ever could have. As MacEachern keenly noted: