Friday, October 06, 2006

Is Pink What You Think?

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time when many medical organizations, hospitals, and advocacy groups work hard to get awareness out about breast cancer so that someday, soon, we'll find a cure.

The month is also a time for many corporations to target our heartstrings and, they're hoping, your purse strings too.

How many products do you see out there with a pink ribbon on it? How many will commit a "portion of proceeds" of a certain product to breast cancer?

The answer is, a lot. Although these products are seen as a company doing good for the community, what's really happening is that many of these companies are taking advantage of a popular issue to make an extra buck. They're giving only pennies away to breast cancer research and pocketing the rest.

I'm not saying that all companies are using this month as a scheme, or that you shouldn't buy these products. I'm hoping that you will think first before automatically buying a product because you think it'll do good for the world. Educate yourself!

For more information, go to www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org

2 comments:

Gavi said...

Thank you for brining this up. Its true, you see the little pink ribbon everywhere and its possible to buy things we don't really need or want under the guise of "the money's going to a good cause".

Cindy said...

By the way, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal today on this exact topic!