October: A Month to Think Before you Pink

As the month of October comes to an end, the leaves change color, children go out and buy fun Halloween costumes, and the holiday spirit begins to pervade the air. It is a month to celebrate life and also Breast Cancer Awareness. The Pink Ribbon campaign has invaded consumer culture. People buy these goods because they think that they are benefiting breast cancer research, and thus they want to do their part to help. What many people do not realize is that commercial support of Breast Cancer Awareness month and the pink ribbon are tactics that businesses construct to rally consumers around illness marking.

The pink ribbon began as the breast cancer symbol in 1990, inspired by AIDS activists who used to wear red ribbons. After a photograph was taken of an actor sporting the red ribbon at the Tony Awards, breast cancer foundations realized the marketing tool they had on their hands. In 1991, breast cancer survivors wore the pink ribbon in the New York City race, and since then the symbol has ignited national recognition.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month was actually started by AstraZeneca, "a pharmaceutical company that also manufactures an herbicide known to cause cancer. In 2003, the company settled for $355 million after illegally marketing a prostate cancer drug. The non-profit company Breast Cancer Action has labeled AstraZeneca and other companies like them "pinkwashers."

While all the publicity surrounding the Pink Ribbon campaign has undoubtedly raised awareness, it has also raised concern among women. And consequently with this concern, women are fearful that they may contract cancer or someone they love might. They want to do whatever they can to help the fight. However, corporations actually raise very little money for breast cancer foundations compared to the large-scale funding necessary for their research. What is even more important is that the companies who do support the Pink Ribbon Campaign are companies whose products may contain cancer-causing materials or may have a cancerous side effect in the future.
This month, Yoplait distributes their pink yogurt products tagged with the slogan, "Save Lids to Save Lives." For each pink lid mailed to the company, Yoplait donates ten cents to Susan Komen for the Cure. That would mean that a woman would have to consume 3 yogurts per day to donate $36 dollars for the month. Yoplait's cows are also treated with rBGH, which from recent studies has been linked to increasing the risk of breast cancer. "These pink ribbon campaigns often mean more to the corporate bottom line then they do to people living with breast cancer," said Barbara Brenner of Breast Cancer Action.

Several beauty companies have also created pink products. This month, Esteé Lauder is donating $500,000 from its Pink Ribbon Collection sales to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, yet its products still contain the chemical parabens, which has been linked to breast cancer. Revlon is also sponsored a breast cancer walk while its products contain cancer-causing chemicals. Karen Grant, a senior beauty analyst from NPD group asks, "Really and truly , is it really heightening awareness? Or is it just companies using this as a vehicle to promote their own sales?"

In one of my previous posts, I talked about "greenwashing." That phenomenon is not much different than "pinkwashing." Global warming and breast cancer are two topics of great concern among people today, and companies can play off of people's fears in order to sell products. People need to recognize what is happening around them instead of falling into to a popular culture trap. Critics of the movement for breast cancer research are asking whether money should be going towards finding a cure or eradicating the disease. The FDA and drug companies are focused on finding the right drug to cure the disease instead of stopping it in general. The FDA approves new drugs frequently. They pave the way for drug companies to make more money when really the FDA should focus more efforts on ending the disease. When it comes to preventing cancer, the cancer industry remains silent on prevention solutions. "All they have to do is keep their mouths shut about what causes cancer, and wait for new customers to fill the cancer centers."

At the close of the largest annual medical awareness campaign month, it is a time for us to stop, pause, and think about the ramifications and true intentions behind this and other awareness events. Breast cancer is the poster child disease for illness marketing. It does not kill as many women as lung or heart disease, but it directly affects the most visible symbol of our female sexuality. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is an organization who just began a study to find the causes of breast cancer, but it is estimated to take ten years. We cannot stop breast cancer by shopping and eating. More funding needs to be awarded to eradicate breast cancer, not further drug company profits.