Think before you pink
Comments
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Did anybody else know that our bc sister, Felicia, was a reporter? I happened to click on her "homepage" and it took me to a magazine. She wrote a terrific article about all the pink stuff. I copied and pasted her article. It's so true.
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Just in time for my annual spring cleaning ritual, I saw an ad for a pink vacuum cleaner this morning. I literally tossed the magazine I saw it in across the room.
I suppose pink cleaning products are designed to promote consciousness about breast cancer, but unfortunately, not everyone is truly aware of the wide swath of devastation this disease can leave in its wake. Seldom is it as cute as that ribbon over there.
Last month, four women I’d come to know through a breast cancer survivor message board I frequent lost their battles with this beast. They left children, partners, friends and neighbors behind who now must find a way to get through their daily routines without them. Not one of them was over 50 years old, either. Tragic, for sure, but unfortunately these courageous women are not alone.
Each year, almost 41,000 women die from breast cancer. While great strides have been made in the development of early detection techniques and treatments in the past 10 years, 182,460 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in the US this year. Treatments are wonderful – as is helping women find out they have breast cancer while it is still in its earliest, most treatable stages – but where is the cure?
Think about it: if all the pink products that slap an awareness ribbon on their label actually donated a portion of their total proceeds towards funding a way to eradicate breast cancer, this disease would have gone the way of the dinosaur by now. But since many of them cap their contributions or give to organizations that have such high administrative overhead, only a relatively tiny amount of money actually gets earmarked for cure research.
So please, before you buy a pink feather duster or toss another container of yogurt or can of soup with a pink ribbon on it into your shopping cart, read the label to see how much of their donation – if any – will actually benefit women who are battling breast cancer or help ensure that a cure will be found someday soon. It has come too late for my cybersisters Ferne, Joanne, Erin and Kathy, as well as for my mom, Maxine, who died in 1992, but hopefully, someday, a cure for this stinking disease will be found. (Stepping off my soapbox now...) -
What a good, tell it like it is article. Hopefully, the companies who "support breast cancer research" will rethink how the donations are made and to whom. Thanks for posting this.
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Rock
Thank you for posting Felicias article......
Felicia-what a wonderful way with words you have...I certainly hope that someone with clout in the agencies that do the pink thing read it and realize what needs to be done....
Thank you for standing up for us like that!!!!!!!!!
Jule
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Gee, Roctobermom - I'm
over here! Thanks for the shout out!The magazine was recognized last month and part of the speech I gave was about this. I wasn't sure anyone wanted to hear it, but several women came up to me after to thank me for making them aware of the pink phenomenon. That made those few blank stares I got from some in the audience worth it...
Last year, it was those daggone pink Campbell Soup cans that pushed me over the edge. I want to organize a protest this October in front of the supermarket's soup aisle - what do you think?
Edited to add: I like your new avatar, btw - although I do miss your coconuts
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felicia-i completely agree with your article, so very true, between all of the walks, pink products etc. over the last 20 years, millions and millions have been raised so where's the cure??
i also wanted to mention avon, estee lauder who support breast cancer cure, i find it ironic, when 95% of their products contain parabens (very harmful ingreidient which mimics estrogen) it is a now know fact that the use of these products on a daily basis eventually seeps into our blood stream, therefore raising the estrogen levels, the FDA has now found that breast tumors contain traces of parabens. it makes me furious, they are contributing to this disease and yet they try to raise funds for a cure? for more info visit the below link.
i'd like to protest at the next avon bc walk!
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You're welcome, Felicia, your article is right on and it's heartwrenching for those that have lost loved ones, our sisters.
I wish there were more articles like yours and a demand of a certain percentage (instead of a cap) in order to make a pink product. Although, the other side of the coin is at least it's some money.
But where is the cure? If all this money is raised and went to actual research, you'd think we'd have the cure not treatments.
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Felicia - Kudos for a great article and thanks to Rocktober for bringing it here for us to read.
bluesky - Agree 100% - I saw some water bottles with pink ribbons on them......more & more info coming out about the chemicals in plastic bottles like Bisphonel A and pthalates which are leaking into the water - these chemicals are known to interrupt homone receptors and researchers are finding that people with high levels in their systems are dealing with earlier puberty, infertility and increased levels of BREAST CANCER.
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guggerty-yes i too agree on the plastic water bottle theory as well as food covered in plastic and stored in plastic, there are so many environmental hazards that are causing this disease. if the f..ing researchers would focus on this and bring more awareness to this maybe we would see a decline!
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this is another excellent site for more info on beauty products.
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Good Lord - this just gets scarier by the minute. That cave on the side of a mountain is looking kinda sweet right now...
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Felicia, great article!
If I'm not wrong the Yoplait people will donate UP TO a certain amount of money. I believe it's substantial, but only a few cents from the yogurt sale goes toward the donation. I would like to know just how much they get from the sales.
Here's just one little excerpt. I believe I read where they do give 10 cents per lid.
Every lid matters, because every lid gets us closer to our donation goal for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. During our annual collection drive, for every lid we receive, we'll donate 10 cents to Susan G. Komen, up to $1.5 million. And we guarantee to donate at least $500,000.
http://www.yoplaitusa.com/breastcancer_lids.aspx -
That's more than a drop in the bucket.
Is Susan Komen a non-profit org and do the people who work for it get paid? I wonder how much of their donations go to research and how much to overhead?
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Felicia,
You ROCK!!
Thanks for telling the world the truth.
Jelly
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Komen is a nonprofit and they have recently switched their focus to cure and prevention, not awareness. i'm sure they have paid employees. Check them out.
take care,
--Hattie -
Rocktobermom,
Yes, people who work for Komen get paid. They have layers and layers and layers of management and I suspect those at the top are in the mid-six figures.
They're huge and certainly have a lot of clout but I'm dissapointed that in 25 years of existence they haven't done more.
We still need "early detection" and better awareness and treatments for stage iv.
Low-income women can use financial help while enduring treatment, something they don't provide (to my knowledge), however they do pay for mammograms.
IMO, Komen has become so behemoth that they've lost their focus.
ETA: They do excel in collecting money.
Jelly
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I think the problem is two-fold: 1. companies who give a portion of their proceeds to a BC organization but cap it ($500,000 is not a heck of a whole lot of money; How much is a container of yogart - $1 or so? Donating 10¢ a lid isn't a lot - especially if they sell a a billion containers [just a guess] a year); it is more $ than the cause had before, but if 2. the money is donated to organizations like SGK who have these huge overhead costs, most of that will get eaten up by administrative fees (the executive director, CEO and CFO's salaries, for example). The rest may be earmarked for cure research, but I'm sure it is a much smaller percentage than what is given for treatment research. Of course treatment is important, but if Yoplait, Campbell's, Dyson, Dove and hundreds of other manufacturers are donating $ every year, this disease should have been cured - or at least we should probably be a whole lot closer to finding one by now.
I suspect a pink label or an awareness ribbon is good marketing (translated to mean that it gets a whole lot of folks who ordinarily wouldn't buy their product to grab it because they think they are helping fight BC - which means a lot more revenue for these companies). They make millions from their awareness campaigns while we get a new drug or two every few years. It is such a load of crap...
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Can you circulate your article to more papers and mags?
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...that is ok...Hilary Clinton just told the American Public that when she gets elected, she will find a cure for bc...
That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard! OK...I know, I'm not on the political thread, but I just had to vent... how ridiculous!
Harley -
Hi Felicia,
I want to join in the praise for your article. I stopped giving to the Komen Foundation a couple years ago because I could not find out how much they had taken in during a year. They posted the grants they made, but not income. Not for profits do not file income tax returns, instead they file Form 990. Finall, Komen has their latest Form 990 on their website. It is an interesting read. Check out the 2007 report. It's 115 pages, but the most interesting to me were pages 104 -106 and 108 - 111. These pages cover compensation to Officers, Board members and the five highest paid staff. I would be interested in people's feed back on this.
Cherryl
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Komen has done more than any other organization for breast cancer research. In the 26 years that they have been around they have spent over $1 BILLION on research alone. They have pledged $1 Billion for research in the next 10 years.
Komen does have national employees but their salaries are paid by a grant/private funder. Komen also changed their logo last year so they could copy write their ribbon. If you see the Komen ribbon on something you can guarantee the money will be spent on research.
I agree that we all need to "think before we pink" because I don't want people to get pinkwashed and not think we need help.
If you have any Komen questions, just send me a message.
Rachel
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I love any articles regarding Think Before You Pink - thank you Felicia!
The other day a co-worker was just going on and on about the CUTE pink ribbon "stuff" they have in the latest Avon catalog. As in, how darling the accessories are, how lucky one is to have this particular kind of cancer because of the selection of products, you know? It seemed obvious to me that she doesn't think about the consequences of the disease.
I really would like to believe that the pink ribbon makes women aware as in "that reminds me, I need to do my self-exam" but I think as Rachel (and others) have pointed out, it becomes a pinkwashing problem, especially in October. It's so easy to tune out the message when it looks so common....toilet paper, soup, socks, ad nauseum....it becomes meaningless.
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Felicia, thanks so much for all your efforts in bringing the PINK confusion to light. Knowledge is power. I thoroughly enjoyed your article!
Miss S
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Nancy, I agree with you.
The pink ribbon reminds ME that I had breast cancer. Before I had bc all the pink stuff didn't phase me. I didn't "get it." I still believe that you really can't understand unless you've known someone with this disease or have been blessed to have received it. <sarcasm> We are the BEST educators.
Shirley
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It truly saddens me...it seems to be that ANY "fundraiser" has pennies on the dollar going to this "Great Cause" It's frustrating to say the least...it makes one wonder where do I begin? How can I really contribute and MAKE a difference ? I looked into the Komen Race w/family and friends for this coming October...and I am stunned with emotions...I still am planning on the walk as its not only for me...its for all the women we have lost/those who are fighting/ those who will be diagnosed/ and those who have Survived !
Unfortunately with these fundraisers people are putting themselves first...they are the ones that have to sleep at night and look at themselves in the mirror each day.
Pennies well worth spent for such an ugly/unfair disease that strikes EVERYONE ! I wish it could be more...for us and for our future!
Interesting article Felicia nonetheless...
Praying for a cure!!!
LUV
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Kudos to Felicia!!
I'll share my only real contact with Komen. A friend asked me to a "Red Hat" luncheon because the guest speaker was a rep of the Komen Foundation and my friend thought I would relate...
...the guest speaker did admit up front that she had never experienced breast cancer but she had been "trained" to deal with it...her speech consisted of flipping through prepared pages in a handbook and quoting the most outdated, ridiculous statistics and information...I kept raising my hand and questioning her to the point of being obnoxious. The final straw was when she passed around a rubber boob with a little lump in it. I know that the point was to make the audience aware of how small a lump can be and how difficult to feel one. But, when I tried to tell the group that my lump felt far different than the one in plastic and that they needed to be aware that lumps don't always feel like the one in the plastic boob, she got really angry with me and wouldn't allow me to ask questions or speak. I was thoroughly pissed--but, I assume (hope) she was only one small, ignorant spoke in a mighty wheel!
Odd, but I had forgot all about that until I read this thread. Thanks for letting me vent!!!
junie
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Great article Felicia.
My comment on the whole "pink" thing is that at least it is making people aware of this devastating disease.For me, any money towards research is a plus. I volunteer at the Avon walk every year and this year I am working at the Komen Race. When I wear my "pink", I am reminding women to get their check ups and to keep it in people's faces that breast cancer is real. I am going to do a self-research program. Every time I see a company going pink...I am going to write to them for their stats and question what they are doing. Hopefully, I will get an answer and I will let you know. It will be quite interesting, don't you think?
Hugs and prayers,
Candie
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Felica- Thank you for addressing this topic that is such a thorn in my side. I totally hate the pink washing thing. During October I hated going to the grocery store and seeing all the pinkified products. Prior to bc the pink ribbon campaign really did not have much of an impact on me- I sort of tuned it out. I am not sure how many women are actually motivated to get screened based on the pink ribbon reminders. I do better with things like the cards in the mail the dentist sends reminding me it's time to get my teeth cleaned. Funny most doctors don't follow this practice for womens' health screenings.
What do you think about the Danskin Triathlon series? I am signed up for the NE tri in July. For me it is not about where the $ goes or the bc focus, although it is important to me personally to celebrate not being in cancer tx by doing an athletic event and the tri is about 20 minutes from my house. I was very disappointed that despite the publicity that they give 1st time survivor/participants free registration I was told that they were all out of "complimentary" entries- had to pay full price. I have been meaning to check how much of the proceeds really go to bc research but haven't gotten around to it.
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You know what the pink parade reminds me of? Feed the hungry programs in November (around Thanksgiving) and December. It's nice that poverty and hunger in this country are recognized in such a big way, but what about the other 10 months of the year?!? People are hungry then, too. Unfortunately, the programs are a whole lot smaller and harder to find.
So we have Avon, SGK, ACS and a few others holding big races and walks all over the country in October and a few other times during the year. We get sponsors, walk or run, mail in the check and then what? Don't get me wrong: I'm greatful for the $ for research - my mother didn't have Tamoxifen 20 years ago when she was diagnosed and I do now - but I don't want to watch another family member have to deal with a dreaded "You have cancer" diagnosis, either. Perhaps the $1 billion donated isn't enough. Or maybe instead of tossing the bulk of it into TREATMENT, more of it could go towards curing this b*tch.
I think because there is so much money being made from treating BC (I dare you to ask your doc what a shot of neulasta costs), there isn't any urgent need to cure it. Where the heck is the money in prevention and cure (just ask the Polio vaccine folks)?
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One can find out information about charities (how much for administrative expenses, etc.) by going to Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org).
For example, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization, and Living Beyond Breast Cancer all get four star ratings, while the National Breast Cancer Coalition and the American Cancer Society get only two stars. You need to read more on the website to see what those stars really mean. But, it's a good place to start.
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