I had a dear friend that “battled” cancer for ten years. I had the same impulse as most people to urge her to fight, to never give up, etc. No one wants people they love to “give up”.
Later, toward the end of things, she helped me understand that such attitudes made her feel like setbacks or dying were cowardly failures. She felt that she’d be letting loved ones down if she didn’t continue with painful, torturous treatments that doctors admitted would have very little chance of helping. It wasn’t her fault that the treatments didn’t work, she couldn’t have fought harder to make them work better.
I’ve never forgotten that. I can see the point of this commercial, but at the same time, I am not sure setting up these situations as win/lose, courage scenarios is fair.
