October's Daily Encounters with "pink stuff"

Booboo2

Did your friend make a donation to the breast cancer research?  Or did she just dye her hair for the fun of it?  I think some of the "pink" people, not all by any means but some, are trying to turn breast cancer into a weird fashion statement of some kind.  Maybe they need to be reminded that we are talking about a DISEASE.

Mimidi

I can't stand the "pink stuff".  I am so happy to know I am not alone.

mdg

I didn't even need to leave the house today to get my dose of pink....this came in the mail!

NannaBaby

Those are the most insane pics!!!! I don't see that where I live.

mdg

Just one more that came in the mail today...again, I didn't even have to go anywhere and I still got "pinked" today.

 Glad to know if you buy dog bones they support the cure....

rachelvk

The new pictures on here are staggering....

As for me, I had my first appointment with my PT yesterday in preparation for my bmx in two weeks, and he tells me to start loading up on protein and iron-rich foods, like spinach and broccoli rabe. So I wander around the produce section tonight to get some broccoli rabe (which I have never tried cooking before, although I like it at restaurants). As I'm reaching for a bunch, I notice .... a PINK wrapper. Nah, I think, only to pick it up and read:  "Proud supporter of The Breast Cancer Research Fund." The label claims the company has given over $910,000 to research. Well, I was going to buy it any way, and hey, it's going to make me 'stronger' for my surgery, so I can deal with the pink. But I had to laugh, and then just shake my head in disbelief.

Oh, and that was after spending time on the bike at the gym watching Jeopardy, which featured a Stage 3 BC survivor as a contestent. I noticed she wasn't wearing any pink. 

I also feel somewhat "guilty" about all the attention that gets focused on BC to the detriment of other cancers, and not only because many of us may be (or are already) facing mets. Being brca+, I've got to worry about increased cancer risk from my ovaries (great aunt grandmother died from that), my pancreas, colon (my great grandfather died of that) and, oh yeah, melanoma. Though who knows -  maybe what they're learning about breast cancer can be applied to other cancers.

Maria - What a super blog! I was hoping to write something for a local paper, but I don't think I could top that. Perhaps the best thing that comes from the 'awareness' aspect is that it's okay to talk about BC now - even if it's often sugar coated and discussed in ways that anger those of us dealing with it. But now we can write, talk, discuss, argue and try to explain to those who are, luckily for them, clueless about what it means to get that phone call: You have cancer. I've been pretty open with my coworkers and acquaintances, male and female, and most of them have fortunately been patient and understanding - and really trying to understand the complexities of BC and cancer in general. Hopefully some of that will sink in.

cycle-path

GodsPioneer, She didn't do it to honor your mother or you, she did it because Pinktober gave her an excuse! Well, I think she should be ashamed. If she wanted to do something in honor of the two of you, she should have donated the cost of the dye job to some cancer research organization.

1Athena1

Booboo - no I did not have a bad experience with mammograms and it is never a god idea to make general judgements based on one's own experience so I don't. I am referring to empirical data. Overall, mammograms have not statistically been shown to save lives. Statistics are for groups, so individual women could be helped and other individualsare harmed (cancer from radiation, for example).

BCOs CEO is one of the few remaining blind believers in mammos, hence the hoopla we read about here.

ETA: Godspioneerwoman - great rant! 

So pinkism doesn't even help us there.

Keep the pictures coming. Some people say they receive the town newspaper NEWS sections in PINK pages! 

Sassa

Godspioneerwoman,

 I think you should post your rant about bravery on your friend's facebook page.

Anonymous

Godspioneerwoman - thank you for your "rant" - heart warming empathy, and much needed especially in this PinkPuke month -

also learned a new expression on this thread:  "I'VE BEEN PINKED."  Now, the next time I"m in a store, before one of those hideious displays - I can YELL,  AUUGHHHGGHHH, how awful, I've been pinked!!  Auuggghhhhhhh!

otter

Sunflowers, you haven't been pinked until you've been pinked with pink pinking shears:

otter

elimar86861

I don't own the pink ribbon clothing, but in the case of some of the non-durable goods that I would normally buy, I don't boycott them with their pink packaging either.  O.K.,  I'm confessing to buying the pink ribbon toilet paper and some AA batteries.

otter

elimar, nooooooo!!!

otter

(Okay, I'll confess to having purchased three "Parker"-brand ink pens that had pink-for-BC barrels. I happen to love real pens with real ink cartridges, rather than the throw-away-when-empty kind. These just caught my eye last year. Having a pink pen makes it easier to notice when somebody "borrows" it.)

ETA:

orangemat

I went to the grocery store to buy eggs yesterday. My normal brand is Eggland. I think it was in this thread, maybe another, where I saw that picture of the egg carton with the little pink ribbons stamped on each egg. I I don't know, when it's their normal blank dye on the eggs, that's fine; but something about the pink on the shells, just didn't seem right... needless to say, I bought another brand.

 I'm walking in the Avon Walk in NYC this weekend. I'll be in a sea of pink, god help me!

mdg

I saw the scissors at Staples.  Yes..I did also post the photo of the eggs. 

Anonymous

Love this thread, Maria!

elimar86861

Otter,  I've been a "little pink doggie" for so long now, you just know I'm going to have a transgression or two.  Nothing a whack with a rolled-up newspaper won't fix.  :-0

1Athena1

I was relieved yesterday to see an envelope from my phone carrier asking me to donate my old cell phone to......a program to prevent domestic violence. I saw the color purple and for a moment it scared me. :-)

dreaming

You can get a list from NBCC of how much really is given to BC, but the companies, stores , etc.

 The ones that from the beginning give a lot for not only research but other programs are Avon and Estee Lauder, long before Pink month, they do it all year round.

All others make money of the work that we did to bring awareness to breast cancer, but the bulk of their profits go to their pockets.

voraciousreader

Okay... So there I was today reading Redbook while waiting for the DH to get an MRI and I FINALLY saw PINK!!! In an ad, Suze Orman was hawking "You're approved to buy shoes and fight breast cancer.". Does anyone watch her show with the "Can I afford it?" segment? I can't believe she is saying it and telling everyone it is okay to buy a selection of shoes to support breast cancer research. Many of her viewers are in very bad financial shape and the last thing they probably need is to buy a pair of shoes! Perhaps just a donation will do? Geeze!

Here's the video hawking the ad that I saw in Redbook:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXkHudmER30

otter

voraciousreader, you mean this ad?:

Here's a link to that ad in an article on cause-based marketing, in case anyone wants to see a legible version:

Suze Orman ad as shown in Redbook

otter

Thepeddlerswife

I have to say that I was at the Dallas Airport today on my way to be with my daughter who has breast cancer and that airport was completely decked out in pink ribbons. There were people that were promoting mammograms and reminding women to get them. When they approached me I told them that I was all too aware of the disease. They asked why, and when I told them they were so responsive, so supportive, and so nice. I look at the October Awareness as a way to join the community. There are so many affected by this disease that will not speak out. They hide like it is embarassing. There is nothing to be ashamed of. You did  not do something wrong to get this disease. I wish every month was as aware of cancer in general. It is deadly and we need to do something about it!

otter

Whoa. I found the motherlode.

Lemme see if I can get this thing to cut-and-paste here (with all the necessary attributions, of course)...

That's the main image Estee Lauder is using in their Breast Cancer Awareness campaign for this year (2011). Don't believe it?  Here's a link to the Estee Lauder BCA website.  The pic of the 4 naked women will appear if you wait a few seconds -- it's rotating with two other images on the home page:  http://www.bcacampaign.com/us/index.shtml

Wondering if any marketing people find this stuff inappropriate?  Here's a column written for a cause-based marketing website.  The column highlights the Estee Lauder pic and asks, "Should Breast Cancer Awareness Marketing Be About the Breast More Than the Disease?":  http://causerelatedmarketing.blogspot.com/2011/10/should-breast-cancer-awareness-about.html

otter

rachelvk

Hmmmm..... wonder if those breasts are real, and if so, which of them have voluntary implants. (Pardon the cynicism)

michelleo13

Otter, now I think I really have seen it all!!! Mind you, I've said that a few times since pinktober began!

As someone who works in Marketing, I know we take great care that any of our material, images, etc. don't offend ANY demographic. In my opinion, Estee Lauder really missed the mark here, even if they are targeting young women with the ad. Did they ever stop to think that some of those younger women will have mothers, grandmothers, aunts who have been affected by this disease?

And let's not even get started on body image issues caused by shiny, airbrushed images like this one!!!

voraciousreader

Otter...That's the ad...and I posted a video of the same print ad. YUK!

Looks like I'm not the only one who took issue with Suze's hawking....Thanks for posting that link. 

solange49

I ran across a couple of YouTube videos that really irritated me. They were teenage girls doing a tutorial...putting on various pink makeup, and doing their nails with pink ribbons. Saying how pretty the color pink was. One even spoke of breast can being "curable" if caught early! Then Wanda Sykes comment on thr Ellen show that since she had a double mastectomy ...she was cured and never had to worry about it again. There is so much information out there! There is no cure for cancer! It can return anywhere in the body. Even in the mastectomy scars. No one wants to think that way and we need to stay positive but thats the facts. It's everyone's hopes and prayers to be NED...or so might like to call it remission. Sorry...had to rant. Lol



Diana

mdg

If Estee Lauder really wants to capture BC and make people aware....the women would have no hair, chemo ports in their arms/chest and scars from SNB's, lumpectomies and BMX.   THey make it look so "pretty".  Blech!  I find it offensive.

rosemary-b

Blechhh...

I am more offended by the hijacking of breast cancer by the greedy than I have been at any time since my diagnosis. Some people would say that I have regressed. Perhaps I have just woken up.

Booboo2

A hotel in my area is selling bottles of wine with the "pink" theme of breast cancer awareness.  I think that is unethical, since alcoholic beverages may be a cause of some breast cancers.  It's like selling cigarettes and donating some of the profit to research on lung disease; just as inappropriate.

I don't object too strenuously when a company makes a profit and helps some cause at the same time, but the product shouldn't be something that could harm the cause that is supposedly being helped.  That doesn't make sense to me.