The National association of Women Business Owners, NAWBO, sent out a recent poll asking their readers of ‘Smart Brief’, this question;
‘Do you buy any of the pink products that go on sale each year for national Breast Cancer Awareness month?’
Here are the results:
• 57.61% Said NO
• 31.52% Said A FEW
• 10.87% Said YES A Lot
www.nawbo.org has over 70,000 members and many more read their on line ‘brief’.
My question is why not?
Do women think that a ‘pink’ product that supports breast cancer awareness never goes to the charities? Do they think it is just a marketing come-on? There is even a name, ‘Pink Washing’. Breast cancer 25 years ago was not talked about except a hushed whisper. It was considered a woman’s cancer. When women were diagnosed with breast cancer in the not so distant past, their husbands were told about their wife’s disease. Breast cancer awareness has come a long way from then and we are all better for it!
Recently Kentucky Fried Chicken and Komen for the Cure www.komen.org came under attack with their partnership. Five cents was donated for every family size bucket that was bought during a period of time. Yes, Kentucky Fried Chicken is not a health food and is counter intuitive to healthy eating and cancer prevention, with-out question. The reality is many people eat KFC often and why not garner a donation from folks that may not otherwise donate to Komen? Why not give people who eat KFC and know they shouldn’t a bit less guilt? $4.2 million was raised.
My company, www.haralee.com, supports breast cancer research and gives a portion of every sale to breast cancer charity. During the month of October we give more. We don’t have to have been a socially conscious company but we choose to reward the purchasing power of our customers that shop with us. We want our customers to feel good about their purchase on many levels and supporting breast cancer research is one way it becomes a win-win situation.
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Thanks Pat for your comments. As usual your insight is great!
October 20, 2010 - 9:10amThis Comment
Haralee- You've raised some good points and good questions. We are indeed much better off than we were in the "dark ages" when breast cancer wasn't discussed and women often didn't see a doctor until it was far, far too late. Men are also much better off now that prostate cancer discussions have become more public, and men are speaking out to encourage other men to get exams. We are also seeing people speak out openly about other cancers, and with the birth of cancer bloggers, cancer Facebook pages, online advocacy groups and many other very public forums there are more public discussions taking place than ever before.
Now that many people are openly and globally discussing cancers that haven't been public before, and are seeking support and attention for many cancer patients, the amount of attention that is paid to breast cancer stands in stark contrast to the attention paid to others. We are at a tipping point, and yes, a backlash is building.
It's hard to find anyone today whose family has not been touched in some way by cancer.People are looking for ways to support the people they care about, not what can be perceived as a reminder that one cancer is better than the others at getting attention and that their loved one also has needs. Hopefully at some point there will be more effective ways to support every person with cancer, including breast cancer, in a manner that is more inclusive.
I don't think people like those who responded to the poll are against breast cancer support, they are simply saying it's time to take what worked well for that cancer and do more for the others.
Thanks for caring and for all you do to help others.
October 19, 2010 - 5:35pmPat
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