Words to Think About, from Pink Ribbons Inc.

The passages below are all from Samantha King’s book, ones I marked for further thought.

Komen’s role:
“Nancy Brinker, founder of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, … is widely credited with turning the disease into a marketable product with which consumers, corporations, and politicians are eager to associate.”

The “on-going cultural transformation of breast cancer in the United States since the early 1990s”:
“…[B]reast cancer has been reconfigured from a stigmatized disease and individual tragedy best dealt with privately and in isolation, to a neglected epidemic worthy of public debate and political organizing, to an enriching and affirming experience during which women with breast cancer are rarely ‘patients’ and mostly ‘survivors.’”

Ugh. I’ve seen plenty of evidence of this “enriching and affirming” response to a cancer diagnosis, and it makes me gag. People tell me, “Cancer was the best thing that ever happened to me,” and I want to say, “You’re kidding, right?”

Cause marketing:
“The current preoccupation with consumer-oriented philanthropic solutions to social problems.”

Also:
“…consumerism has come to be recognized as a form of political action.”

Breast cancer receives more NCI funding than any other cancer. However:
“…the extent to which this high level of funding has positively affected breast cancer incidence and mortality rates remains to be seen. …a woman’s lifetime risk of breast cancer has increased from 1 in 22 in the 1940s to 1 in 7 in 2004.”

Pink ribbon merchandise:
“…a particularly prominent manifestation of the tight alliances that have formed between large breast cancer foundations and corporations, of the insidiously gendered nature of cause-related marketing that helps reproduce associations between women and shopping and of a more general tendency to deploy consumption as a major avenue of political participation.”

In other words, pink ribbon marketing plays into “retail therapy,” a serious problem among upper-middle class women in this country. Reduced to simplest terms, retail therapy means, “Buy something to make you feel better about yourself or your life.”

Don’t buy pink merchandise, but you may want to buy this book:

Pink Ribbons Inc.

@ Jeanne Sather 2007.

Comments

[laurie]

I took this book out of the library at the cancer centre and loved it so much, I bought it! (it was worth slogging through the academic speak). As you say, it was such an affirmation of my own feelings (as for that matter is the fact that you are out there and writing so brilliantly, clearly and bravely, Jeanne).

[jeanne]

I totally agree about the book. I just wish she had had an editor who would have gotten it into more readable language, but it's sitll excellent. I'm going to be quoting from it for a long time to come.

Jeanne

[Kristina]

Jeanne, I adore your blog. I think that you are articulate, interesting, and thoughtful. I am glad that I stumbled into your blog one day, and I will continue to read it.

I have to say, though, that I had to give a rather long sigh upon reading this post. It's not the first time that I've read this kind of anti-pink-ribbon sentiment, and I'm aware of the "boycott October" movement, but I find it exceedingly frustrating.

The Komen Foundation made it possible for women to talk about breast cancer. When Nancy Brinker and her sister Susan G. Komen were each diagnosed with breast cancer, the words "breast cancer" could not be published in a newspaper. Women died because of this; women didn't know how to take care of themselves, or to discuss lumps with their doctor, or seek care. Certainly, women are still dying of breast cancer - you and I are painfully aware of that - but the survival rates are MUCH better than they used to be.

Every major piece of research in breast cancer has been supported by grants from organizations like Komen. We have made some radical changes: we've got tamoxifen, dose dense chemo, different chemo drugs, better anti-emetics, AIs, sentinal node biopsies, modified radical instead of radical mastectomies, better targeting in radiation, Herceptin, etc, etc, etc, and every newly diagnosed woman with breast cancer benefits from this research.

At the local level, Komen provides necessary services to underreached populations, and financial care for newly diagnosed women.

If you haven't read Komen's annual reports, I suggest you do so. They are doing real work, not just marketing.

I agree, pink ribbons are cutesy and somewhat nauseating. I agree, I don't want or need pink kitchen gadgets or vacuum cleaners. HOWEVER, if companies want to link themselves to a philanthropic cause and put money in there to back it up, I say HALLELUJAH!

People try to feel good in whatever way they can. If they choose a company that supports worthy causes to buy their products, then more power to them.

Of course, there are those shady companies who donate $1 out of every $1Million and put a pink ribbon on their products to draw consumer support, and that's shady at best (despicable), but those companies are not the norm.

It would be better if everyone took to the streets to demand a cure. Sign the LiveSTRONG Army pledge, contact politicians to reverse funding cuts to the NCI, visit chemo wards, make chemo hats, pay for out-of-pocket expenses for cancer patients. But most people can't or won't do that. If they're not going to do that, but they buy a product that sends 10% of the proceeds to breast cancer, they HAVE done something. Is it deep? No. Is it effective? Yes. Every dollar gets us closer.

Yes, I'm passionate. I volunteer with Komen, I did an education component ("I AM THE CURE") at the local Race for the Cure, and I have a 3-Day team with 32 people and we've raised $74K for Komen. Yes, I'm biased.

Pink's not for everyone. Pink ribbons are annoying. But they ARE working. Yes, it's consumerist. But unfortunately, like it or not, the cure is also a consumerist issue. With enough money, we'll find it. Just like a polio vaccine, we can get there....one dollar at a time.

I don't have the energy tonight to type out a response to each of the quotes, above, but I believe that they're misleading. Not malicious, but not entirely accurate, either.

I do not mean any offense by my response to your blog; it's your blog and you have a right to all of your opinions. If you choose not to post my comment, that's okay. I respect you, and I understand your viewpoint...I simply disagree.

You are fabulous, and I hope I haven't crossed the line here....I just wanted to post the other side.

[jessica]

Kristina-

I commend you for your careful articulation and honesty. You have given much time and energy to a cause you believe in, and I admire your integrity. I don't want to butt in on a conversation that perhaps I'm not entitled to, but I would like to ask just this: Wouldn't you rather see individuals writing a check, even a $5 check, directly to the charity of their choice than purchasing a pair of anklets so that $0.36 ends up in Komen's hands? I actually do like pink, in certain shades. But I don't think Nike (or Mattel, or Campbell's...) needs to profit from it. Where's the integrity there?

Just my $0.02. Or $0.36. ;)

[pocketina]

I have to agree with Jessica. I think it's great that you help, I really do. But I think that the marketing of "breast cancer awareness products" chooses to ignore the environmental conditions that their very manufacture helps to degrade. I've even seen products with some links to cancer (though exposure to their ingredients, or to byproducts of their manufacture) *with the awareness label on them*!

It's a great thing, to focus people's attention, and to harness everyone's energy into a common cause, and as I said, I think it's great of anyone who collects money, walks the walk, etc.

But I don't think that corporations view it as a chance to help cancer patients out, or to help prevent new cancers: I think they just want the exposure to feel-good causes, whether they (or their products )deserve that exposure or not.

[jeanne]

Kristina--I don't think you've crossed any lines. I welcome the debate. But have you read Pink Ribbons Inc.? It's quite an eye-opener.

And I do feel personally exploited by pink ribbon marketing. I don't think companies should be making money off my disease.

I also hold Komen responsible for linking "helping" to "shopping." I think that was a huge mistake.

Jeanne

[Kristina]

Thank you for welcoming my comments and concerns, and for not stoning me in response to my disagreement.

I absolutely understand that we are a consumerist culture, and that as such we buy products that degrade the environment, abuse third world nations, support ridiculous labor laws, etc. I get it, really I do. I'm working on curtailing my own consumerism, and on being more thoughtful about where I spend my dollars.

But here's the thing. When I stand in front of the battery counter to replace the batteries in my flashlight, which I use for camping, for emergencies, and on evening walks with my daughter, I have a choice. I can buy Duracell, or I can buy Energizer. Energizer has committed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Komen Foundation, and I believe that this type of corporate philanthropy is helpful, so I buy Energizer instead.

I am not in a position to buy ANY new car, let alone a luxury car, but when I learned that BMW has donated millions to Komen over the past 10 years, I decided that if I were ever going to buy a new luxury car, I would test drive a BMW, and use the Komen link as a tie-breaker if I was deciding between two manufacturers.

What is the harm in this? I don't see any. The corporations are encouraged to do philanthropy - and I think that they should, since they can afford it - and I'm being more socially conscious in my choices, as well.

There is no harm in a corporation giving money to charity. Whether they do it to promote themselves, or whether they do it out of the purest of intentions, the result is the same: money goes to charity. This is, I think, a good thing!

I would love it if every person would write checks to worthy charities. Many do, many do not. I do not suggest that people buy pink M'n'Ms and pat themselves on the back for having completed all of their charity spending for the year thanks to a penny or nickel or whatever going to breast cancer causes. I do think, though, that if everyone bought the pink M'n'Ms instead of the other candy bar they were planning to purchase, and a breast cancer charity gets some money, then a lot of people stand to benefit. Is it enough? No. But it IS a start, and it IS better than nothing. All of those nickels add up, and frankly, I think we need all the help we can get.

There are a LOT of ways to further the cause, or to further the cure. Writing checks, doing research, speaking out, contacting legislators, grass-roots fundraising like the 3-Day, etc. I am involved in as many of those causes as I can, but of course, for me, it's personal. I'm fearful for my own life, and fearful that my daughter will grow up motherless or will one day be struck with the same heinous treatment path I've been given. Not everyone is as motivated as I am, and though I'm working on educating them to do more, in the meantime, if they choose the pink vacuum or the pink MnMs or the Energizer batteries, then the cure is one dollar closer, or a hundred dollars closer, or whatever.

I'm glad to support companies who do philanthropic work. I choose my video store based on their views (or, rather, the views of their competition, which I disagree with); I boycott certain companies for their environmental stance or their involvement with the tobacco industry. I do not send a lot of money to non-breast-cancer causes these days because I'm pretty one-track these days (alas), but if I see that a company is supporting a cause I believe in and I needed the type of product they were selling, I'd buy theirs instead of the competition. This does not make me a blindly consumerist person (not that this is what you are accusing anyone of), this makes me a thoughtful consumer.

We are all consumers. Our purchases inform the market about what's important. Breast cancer research is important to me, so I buy pink when I have a choice. I also try to only buy pink when it's "real" charity, and I think it's appalling that some companies do the marketing without donating the cash. But when I can, I do my research, and then I buy.

Pink is not my best color - I really love blue, and I wear a lot of (slimming, hip) black. But if my stupid pink bracelet makes somebody ask about breast cancer, and I can inform them, and they then choose to support breast cancer in new ways, then I'm succeeding.

This is written without editing or previewing and with a four year old showing me her treasures, but hopefully I've hit on a couple of relevant points. (What a disclaimer - sorry!) I will seek out the book and read it, as I realize that I'm responding to a short set of quotes and not the author's entire message, and I like to be fully informed even when I feel certain to disagree. Maybe the book will change my mind, though I'm doubtful of this, and I'll give it a try. So far, however, I'm not convinced.

And hugs and giant smooches to Jeanne for welcoming the debate and not shutting me out. Thank you!

[Kristina]

I found this link:
http://cms.komen.org/komen/Partners/MillionDollarCouncil/index.htm

Each of the 23 companies listed has donated a minimum of $1,000,000 to Komen.

Not every company is sending in a nickel and patting themselves on the back. Some companies do this, and they should rightly be avoided, but what about THESE companies?

I don't buy all of their products. I think that Yoplait is full of too many additives and food coloring, doesn't taste great, and isn't as healthy as other forms of yogurt. I don't blindly support every company 100% just because they use pink. But still, given a choice between Yoplait and umm, Dannon, I'd choose Yoplait. Given a choice between Yoplait and Trader Joe's organic yogurt, I'd go with Trader Joe's, because of my health choices.

We all make these decisions every day. A minimum of $23,000,000 among these 23 companies, for starters, is a pretty good start. My 3-Day team has raised about $75,000 so far and it's taken us months, and it's been grueling. If these 23 companies can come up with that much cash, more power to them, because all of my grass roots fundraising won't even come close, and though I'm still doing that fundraising, it's going to take more than me and people like me.