It's October, which means the usual wave of pink ribbons on all kinds of products will become a tsunami. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and whether it's T-shirts, lipstick, cars, or yogurt, the pink ribbon will be used on a variety of products to raise awareness of – and money to address – the disease.

 

Unfortunately, because of a lack of transparency and accountability in most pink ribbon marketing, nobody knows if these products and the money they generate are actually making a difference in ending the breast cancer epidemic. However, one thing is certain; the pink ribbon has helped many companies sell products and increase profits.

 

Breast Cancer Action’s Think Before You Pink  campaign was launched in 2002 in response to the overwhelming number of pink ribbon products on the market. This consumer education campaign encourages people to ask critical questions of pink ribbon marketers, such as how much money is being donated from each product, how much of the purchase price that represents, the types of research or programs the money is funding, and whether the products being sold are actually making us sick.

 

This last question is fundamental to public health. Should a company get to have it both ways–produce a product that makes us sick while simultaneously claiming to care about our health?

 

Breast Cancer Action uses the term “pinkwashers” to describe companies that put pink ribbons on products that are linked to breast cancer. Consider the car companies such as Ford, Mercedes and BMW. Chemicals in car exhaust are linked to breast cancer. By asking consumers to buy and drive polluting cars in the name of breast cancer, car companies are also encouraging us to unwittingly help increase the incidence of the disease.

 

Cosmetics companies such as Estee Lauder are another big player in pink ribbon marketing. Many cosmetics contain parabens and phthalates, classes of chemicals that are reproductive toxins and suspected contributors to breast cancer. If these companies cared about the health of women, wouldn’t they take these chemicals out of their products?

 

Also on the list of pinkwashers are companies, such as Yoplait, that put pink ribbons on dairy products made from cows treated with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH). Breast cancer is among numerous health concerns associated with the use of rBGH. In fact, other industrialized nations, as well as some corporations in the United States, have banned the use of, or products made with, rBGH. Yet, every October, at least one of these products will appear on store shelves decorated with a pink ribbon.

 

Consumers have the right to ask questions of companies that engage in pink ribbon marketing. If they can’t get answers, or if they feel the answers aren’t adequate, they should consider buying another product, or contributing directly to an organization that they feel is doing good work. It’s time for us to hold these companies accountable to their promise of making a difference in the breast cancer epidemic.