Pinkshaming the Pinkwashers of Pinktober 2015
13 Oct
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
If you are a regular reader of my blog then you know my main pink peeve it the marketing of all things pink to support those affected by breast cancer. Pinkwashing. It makes me nuts that companies will spend more on the Pinktober marketing budget than the donation (if any!) to a breast cancer charity. Companies have been marketing pink items since August and some are promising to donate a portion of sales to a breast cancer organization. Some companies just market pink items for the heck of it. Here are a few Pinkwashers I’d like to Pinkshame this season:
Need some Pink Pepper Spray? Here ya go! Found this one at BassPro Shop. I did not see any beneficiary of this on the packaging, but BassPro does give 20% of their
“Hunt for the Cure” proceeds to BreastCancer.org. Yep. Hunt for the Cure. I wonder if Komen will go after them for the use of their trademarked “for the Cure” slogan.
Michael’s Craft Stores have a big-honkin’ pink display and tagging the items with Team Hope.
Michaels craft stores are marketing their pink items under Team Hope.
I visited the Michaels website and did not see anything regarding Team Hope. I typed “Team Hope” into the search bar and no products were found to match my search. I scrolled to the bottom of the Michaels webpage to look for any charitable alliances and found nothing. There is no charitable alliance noted on any of the Team Hope packaging. I think it is safe to say that none of this pink product money is going toward any breast cancer organization. Pppfffttthhhhtttt.
These next pink items were found at the checkout at one of my fave crack dens – Five Below.
The laces are packaged with “Walk of Hope” and the mirrors are packed with “Reflections of Hope”
I visited the Five Below website and was pleased to see a tab on Philanthropy. Nothing was found regarding a donation to breast cancer charities, but they do align themselves with Alex’s Lemonade Stand and St. Jude Children’s Hospital. The packing of these items do not indicate any charitable intentions with the sale of these products. Ppppffftthhht.
One organization doing Pinktober the right way is the NFL and their Crucial Catch campaign. If you are a football fan, then you have seen the pink accessories and signage at the games this month. The NFL is aligned with the American Cancer Society and promotes what each of the 32 NFL teams are doing this month to promote breast cancer awareness.
The Arizona Cardinals is having Gloria Gaynor sing “I Will Survive” accompanied by 175 breast cancer survivors and their cheerleaders. Not joking.
I did not see any outright dollar amount for a donation, but the NFL indicated that pink items worn by players will be auctioned off with proceeds going to ACS.
Pink skull cap worn at game. Anyone?
Stay tuned for more pink-shaming! And go get your mammogram! xoxo