Think Before You Buy Pink

While I am probably the person most guilty of this, I know a lot of us buy things to support the cause. If you wander around a Target or Bed Bath and Beyond, you might be bombarded by all the Pink items, making the promise to donate a portion of the proceeds to breast cancer research. Heck, even here at the University of South Carolina, the faux Barnes and Noble has said Pink items. So while our hard-earned money is going to breast cancer research, are we really helping to stop the cure?

Breast cancer is the poster child of corporate cause-marketing campaigns: companies try to reinforce their image and boost their bottom line by connecting themselves with the cause. Several companies do this while simultaneously making products that contribute to the disease—a practice BCA has dubbed “pinkwashing.”

Here is a sample of some of the more problematic "pinkwashing" promotions taking place this fall:

Mercedes-Benz is selling a sedan to raise funds for Saks Fifth Avenue’s Key to the Cure, a women’s cancer initiative developed in partnership with the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Women’s Cancer Research Fund. Mercedes-Benz expects to contribute $1 million through the sale of these vehicles. The campaign urges consumers to buy a car, yet pollutants found in car exhaust have been linked to breast cancer.

In 2008, Estee Lauder will donate $500,000 from the sales of its Pink Ribbon Collection of cosmetics to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in an effort to raise awareness about breast cancer. Meanwhile, the company refuses to sign the Compact for Safe Cosmetics to ensure that its products do not contain chemicals that are known or strongly suspected of contributing to the disease.

Yoplait’s fall campaign, Save Lids to Save Lives, continues to urge consumers to buy pink-lidded cups of Yoplait yogurt. For each pink lid mailed back to the company by December 31, Yoplait donates ten cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, up to $1.5 million. Sadly, a woman would have to eat three containers of Yoplait every day during the four-month campaign to raise $36 for the cause–and the yogurt is made from cows treated with rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone). There are numerous health concerns, including breast cancer, surrounding the use of rBGH.