Marks & Spencer and The Prostate Cancer Charity are joining forces for the second year to help raise awareness of prostate cancer. M&S customers will be able to help raise funds for the charity by purchasing a blue, Real Man pin badge for a suggested donation of £1 at 510 stores across the U.K. and on-line.

M&S will also give away around 1.5 million prostate cancer information leaflets to inform customers and staff of the symptoms and risks of the disease. The partnership is backed by TV personality Andi Peters, who is the face of the campaign, which raised £100,000 for The Prostate Cancer Charity last year.

To Highlight Prostate Cancer Awareness Week (10-16 March 2008),

M&S has designed an exclusive range of products, including underwear socks, handkerchiefs and cufflinks, which will be on sale in selected M&S stores and on-line at www.marksandspencer.com from the first of March.

The thing about these products is that they actually *look* great. My favorites are the socks with the Real Man logo, set of handkerchiefs that will look spiffy in your suit pocket — and the boxer briefs. (I have heard a number of men say they prefer wearing boxer briefs after a prostatectomy.)

Unfortunately, they do not ship overseas.

About the Real Man Badge

The pin badge is called a Real Man pin badge because it is part of The Prostate Cancer Charity’s “Real Men Know All About It” campaign. The campaign targets men and their partners of all ages, but primarily men aged 50 and over, and positions prostate cancer awareness as “Real Man” territory, using lists of ‘manly’ activities and their love of statistics as a means to communicate the hard facts. It challenges the stereotypical view of ‘macho’ men and says that real men are really the ones who face up to health risks and take responsibility for their health.

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If you have any queries about prostate cancer call The Prostate Cancer Charity’s confidential helpline 0800 074 8383 or visit www.prostate-cancer.org.uk.