Thursday, October 05, 2006

Chump bracelet

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I would like to share a little awareness of my own.

Please think before you pink. Breast Cancer Awareness Month was founded by a pharmaceutical company in 1985. Pink products are big business. "In almost all breast cancer cause marketing campaigns, it is the consumers' money that raises funds for the cause, not the corporation. The corporation uses the pink ribbon to grab consumers' attention and money while attracting a little more visibility for the cause." Some of these companies sell products that contain carcinogens. It is difficult to know how much exactly how much money is raised and how it is actually used. Most money goes to cancer treatment. A little money goes towards cancer research. Very little money is dedicated towards cancer prevention.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was just talking to Sush about this the other day. Even though she's been in the US for seven years now, she is still curious about how we "brand" diseases. She's been seeing lots of "pink" ads. We wondered how much the "branding" of "popular" diseases like breast cancer actually benefits science. I imagine -- haven't checked -- that the NIH and the CDC must have spent billions on breast cancer over the last 30 years. How much good does a marathon and a walk and a "pink" campaign really do? Are these just causes to keep professional philanthropists busy?

Jay.

Me said...

It is such a scam ... billions of dollars have been raised it the last decade or so, but there have been no major breakthroughs in breast cancer treatments or dramatic decreases in mortality rates. Not only are you uselessly giving money to corporations, the medical research money does not give great returns.