Pink Washing or If Shopping Could Cure Breast Cancer, It Would Be Cured By Now

October is all Pink: it's "National Breast Cancer Awareness Month." The Teaser Me blog has mixed emotions about it and smells "pinkwashing":

“Don't get me wrong: breast cancer is a serious disease that tragically affects hundreds of thousands and kills thousands of women (and yes, a few men) every year. But every illness, every serious social issue, should be so lucky as to benefit from the marketing dollars spent (and contributions raised) for awareness, research and treatment. While a very serious disease, the rates of death compared to other diseases affecting women are lower than the abundant attention to the disease might suggest.

It seems that the companies who take part in BCA month cause marketing initiatives benefit from the halo effect as much or more than the companies who receive the donations generated. When Campbell's soup last year changed its iconic red/white soup can labels to pink/white during October, the mom friendly product made a bold move - and albeit a relatively small contribution to the cause. Their $250,000 contribution to research is generous, but feels small compared to the amount of good will to the brand that the campaign surely generated. The Marketing to Women Online Blog suggests that the actual amount contributed works out to $.035/can. Yikes.

The ‘pinkwashing’ of the disease has even generated an anti-marketing backlash and the San Francisco-based organization Breast Cancer Action makes the excellent point: 'If shopping could cure breast cancer it would be cured by now.' The organization's "Think before you pink" website and related outreach provides an interesting counterpoint to pink-lanthropy that encourages consumers to look beyond effective cause marketing at the sources of risk factors for the disease, including car and cosmetics companies whose pink-beribboned products may be helping cause increased rates of the disease. And, it provides a list of ways of taking action that don't involve shopping, from using public transit (fewer cars on the road = less pollution, a risk factor for breast cancer), to using non-rGBH dairy products.”

Comments

[Jenna C.]

ok...well i see part of your point, but i guess we will have to agree to disagree, because my grandmother who was very close to me, died from breat cancer about a year ago. she didnt have a cure..she had to go through 2 yrs of it. it was not the first time she had breast cancer either. She was a fighter, but its hard to fight off something that makes you sick everyday. she lost her hair, her sense od awareness, and her life. i want them to find a cure....I NEED THEM TO FIND A CURE. she meant the world to me..and now......she's gone. you dont know what it feels like. yes other deseases are out there..and they are very important, but that doesn't mean it should take away from the awarness and money used for breat cancer treatment, because the others arent out there as much. we need a cure...why would you argue that.....?

love, jenna

[malignant lung cancer]

Webster, though, said his...