Pinkwashing

by Justin

I must start by saying this: Breast cancer is a terrible, horrible, no good thing.  Like many of our cancers, it devastates lives and families.  We can and should find a cure.

I must also say that the 'pinkwashing' of October makes me want to puke.  I am sick of everything and the world that stands still and can be sold being in that perfect shade of pink.  In Lubbock, Texas this month you could have attended a "Pink Out" - Texas Tech Volleyball Game, the Komen Race, or the "We Think Pink in Lubbock" event, among others. 

Like everywhere else you can buy pink guns, pink pins, pink purses, pink...pink..pink.  All with a 'portion of the proceeds' going toward the cure.  On facebook I have no less than six friends raising vast amounts of cash for their Komen walks.  Walking is great.  Walking is rewarding.  Walking can accomplish great things and fund great research. 

The Komen for the Cure foundation spent 80.5% of their budget on program expenses last year.  That is actually fairly respectable.  Their revenue was some 312 million dollars.  I am just left wondering if their popularization of pink caused a marketing boom, with little real ramification on donations.

I am aware that not all 'pink events' go to fund Komen.  But by far they are the marketing geniuses behind this crazy.  And frankly, I wish that I didn't have to stare at pink everywhere I turned for an entire month.