Placebo, by definition, can either be "a substance containing no medication and prescribed or given to reinforce a patient’s expectation to get well" or "something of no intrinsic remedial value that is used to appease or reassure another." Just as magnetic yellow ribbons do little to acknowledge the true horrors, losses or costs of war, placebow acts as a substitute, questioning symbols as adequate stand-ins for the inhumane follies of war and portraying this feel-good symbol as a vicious cycle of self-satisfaction.