Do not get fooled by Pink October

By Marie Flügge

It seems like everyone has jumped on the Think Pink October train. Pink ribbons are everywhere you look, and breast cancer awareness runs rampant all month long. Source: Headcovers

What is the relationship between a car brand, a bra, and a pen? Well, usually none – except this month. 

As October rolls in, an interesting phenomenon which consists of major brands adding pink ribbons to their logos, launching limited edition pink items and collaborating with breast cancer charities occurs. The little pink ribbon – you guessed it – signifies that the companies marketing them donate part of their profit to research against the disease.  

A month dedicated to raising awareness of a disease that, according to WHO, still affected 7.8 million people worldwide by the end of 2020…What could possibly be wrong with that, you may ask? Well, the answer lies in the past. Let’s go back to the early 1990’s when a woman called Charlotte Haley decides to offer passers-by some self-made, peach-coloured ribbons. The 68-year-old woman, whose grandmother, daughter and sister have all suffered from breast cancer, walks the streets of New York with a cardboard box in her hands.  

On it reads: 

“The National Cancer Institute’s annual budget is $1.8 billion, only 5% goes for cancer prevention. Help us wake up legislators and America by wearing this ribbon.” 

Left: Charlotte Haley holding a handful of peach ribbons, each made by hand. Right: One of Haley’s ribbons is attached to its original message card. Source: Headcovers.

Her protest and ribbons attracted a lot of attention, including that of the Cosmetic brand Estee Lauder, whose founder Evelyn Lauder had been a victim of the disease. A little problem though: Charlotte Haley firmly refuses the company’s proposal – along with Self magazine – to reproduce the ribbon and create a campaign. She deems the operation too commercial.  

But never mind, Mrs Lauder’s “life’s mission” is “to rid the world of breast cancer”, as can be read on the company’s website. So, Estee Lauder’s lawyers get around the problem by changing the colour of the ribbon: it will now be pink – a colour considered reassuring and soft by the sample of women gathered by the brand at the time. And just like so, “over a cup of coffee”, Estee Lauder founded the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) and established the pink ribbon as a universal symbol for fighting the disease.  

It unsurprisingly became a huge success, and various other companies took up the same cause shortly after, leading the pink ribbon to become a multibillion-dollar industry – as previously reported by The Guardian. 

Depending on the country, transparency is not always required when it comes to communicating the share donated to breast cancer research charities. 

Whilst some brands genuinely contribute to the cause by donating a significant amount of their revenue from collaboration, others have pushed the boundaries of commercial opportunism a bit too far. So far, even, that Breast Cancer Action coined the term “Pinkwashing” and launched the “Think Before You Pink” campaign in 2013 – designed to alert the public about this phenomenon. 

For instance, in 2010, KFC sold nuggets in pink buckets carrying the slogan “Buckets for the Cure”, with the candid intention to donate 50 cents per bucket sold to breast cancer research foundations. A marketing campaign choice that is rather cynical, given that KFC’s products potentially contain carcinogen components, known to…raise the risk of breast cancer. 

KFC’s Buckets for the Cure triggered PR disaster in 2010. Source: Ecouterre

According to a study from the American agency Cone Communications, 89% of respondents were inclined to change their buying habits and buy from a brand that is committed to a cause. It is quite scary to think how easy it is for companies to redeem good behaviour at such a low cost. 

The consequences of this “pink hype” are not so rosy in the sense that breast cancer charities now must battle not only against the disease itself but also against its commercialisation. Other equally serious diseases are also being disregarded from this media exposure. 

There are various, more ethical ways one can participate in helping breast cancer research. For instance, buying pink products from companies that donate entirely (and not 5 %) to breast cancer charities, and by donating directly to research. There is an abundance of breast cancer charities in the UK, such as Breast Cancer Now, Flat Friends or Against Breast Cancer.  

And, most importantly: be present for whoever in your family or friends circle might be affected by the disease. Almost 9 women in 10 (85%) are diagnosed with breast cancer in the country, Cancer Research UK reports – listen to them. If they want to take part in Pink October, that’s great…;t if they don’t, understand that seeing pink ribbons on practically everything in October might be a painful, constant reminder of the disease they are battling with.