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In South Carolina and across the country, cancer has sadly taken its toll on many families. A particular advertisement for Snickers candy bars on the back cover of Sports Illustrated, meant to be humorous, has made the widow of a man who died from cancer very angry. That’s because the advertisement is a spoof about asbestos exposure. The woman’s husband died from mesothelioma, an incurable disease caused solely by exposure to asbestos.

The woman, who started an asbestos disease awareness organization after her husband’s death, says there is absolutely nothing funny about asbestos. The  Sports Illustrated edition features a bikini-clad model, who is also wearing asbestos-related safety clothing and equipment in addition to her bathing suit. A subtitle for the Snickers ad includes the phrase, “goddesses of asbestos removal.”

The widow, speaking out against the advertisement, said her husband was one of approximately 15,000 people throughout the nation who die from asbestos-related diseases each year. Although a lot of asbestos-laden products have been removed from buildings, such as schools, homes, libraries and factories, the microscopic particles can still be found on many work sites and in private settings. The United States happens to be the only industrialized country in the West that has not completely banned asbestos.

Signs of mesothelioma, asbestosis and other asbestos-related illnesses are not often immediately apparent. This means those in South Carolina or elsewhere who are afflicted may not realize they are ill until months, perhaps years, after their initial asbestos exposures took place. There is definitely nothing funny about such matters, and options are available for those in need of legal support.

Source: ewg.org, “Asbestos Is No Joke“, Linda Reinstein, Feb. 26, 2018