Communication is a social phenomenon. It follows evolution and transformation in society and also plays a strong role in contributing for its maturation process. This work is an example of this. Because it proposed a next step for people concerning a highly sensitive theme: child cancer.

Communication to make children in treatment feel accepted and welcomed in their condition.

GRAACC (Support Group to Children and Adolescents with Cancer) offers medical treatment to children and adolescents with cancer and is one of the most respected charity institutions in Brazil. Traditionally, its communication focuses on the National Day Against Child Cancer. The approach had always been the same: early diagnosis increases the chances of a positive outcome in the treatment.

It was time to use communication in a different way: to improve the lives of Brazilian children that fight against cancer.

Communication cannot help in such a hard treatment. But it can help to fight the stigma linked to it. The most visible part of the process: a baldhead that should mean braveness, instead only attracts bullying, strange looks, and the difficulty to live a normal life.

The fact that lots of parents shave their heads when their kids are undergoing chemotherapy was the most inspiring behaviour for our idea. In “Bald Cartoons” several cartoon characters appeared bald, saying to the world that a “child with cancer deserves to be seen like any other child”. What started with very few characters grew in popularity and produced a snowball effect. Several cartoonists voluntarily embraced the project without having been contacted for this purpose.

The campaign’s repercussion was huge. More than 120 million people were reached in Brazil, with zero media budget. The spontaneous participation was so huge that even the country’s president mentioned the subject twice.

All this visibility with one goal: socially validate children’s and adolescents’ baldheads undergoing cancer treatment. After all, if everyone saw their favourite character without hair, it would be easier for children in the same condition to be seen in a more favourable way.

Or, borrowing the words of a patient from GRAACC: “I believed that if I took my baseball cap off, people would laugh at me, but I don’t feel like that anymore”.