I Will Not Be Pinkwashed: Komen’s Race is for Money, Not the Cure

Title: I Will Not Be Pinkwashed: Komen’s Race is for Money, Not the Cure

Author: Dr. Mercola

Publication: Food Consumer

Publication Date:  February 22, 2012

“The multimillion-dollar company behind all those pink “breast cancer awareness” ribbons — the Susan G. Komen Foundation – uses less than a dime of each dollar to actually look for a breast cancer cure, as promised.

Plastering pink ribbons on every conceivable product has much more to do with raising awareness of, and money for, the Komen Foundation than it does curing breast cancer; pink ribbon campaigns are commonly used on products that may contribute to cancer, such as fried chicken and cosmetics that contain cancer-causing ingredients

It’s reported that the Komen Foundation owns stock in several pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, the maker of tamoxifen, a cancer drug that is actually classified as a human carcinogen by both the World Health Organization and the American Cancer Society.

In the case of many large cancer charities, your money will go toward research to create often-toxic and sometimes deadly cancer drugs, questionable screening programs like mammography, and into the bank accounts of its numerous well-paid executives — all while the real underlying causes continue to be ignored or actively concealed.”

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The powerful problem of pink

Title: The powerful problem of pink; Victoria’s branding secret may be colour-based, but when it backfires, it isn’t pretty. Just ask Lego

Authors: Francine Kopun

Publication: The Toronto Star

Publication Date: February 14, 2012

…KFC had a larger public relations problem on its hands in 2010, when it teamed up with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the organization behind the pink ribbon campaign for breast cancer awareness.

During the campaign, KFC changed the colour of its iconic bucket from red to pink, temporarily lit its headquarters pink, and repainted a Louisville restaurant. The Colonel Sanders look-alike who represents the company traded in his white suit for a pink version to complete the brand’s temporary transformation.

The result was the single largest donation in the history of Susan G. Komen for the Cure – $4.2-million raised by 5,000 restaurants in the United States. The funds were used for local breast cancer education, screening and treatment, but the campaign provoked ridicule and lingering criticism.

“Raising money in the name of breast cancer research, while engaged in a partnership with a corporation that may very well be contributing to this disease, is pink-washing in its most egregious form,” according to Think Before You Pink, an organization launched in 2002 due to concerns about the growing number of pink ribbon products on the market.

It accused KFC of targeting low-income communities with a product containing carcinogens and fats linked to heart disease and breast cancer.

The campaign was not repeated…

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Komen for the Cure’s Biggest Mistake Is About Science, Not Politics

Title: Komen for the Cure’s Biggest Mistake Is About Science, Not Politics

Author: Christie Aschwanden

Publication:  Discover Magazine (This post originally ran on the blog Last Word on Nothing.)

Date: February 10, 2012

The Planned Parenthood debacle brought renewed attention to other controversies about Komen from recent years—like its “lawsuits for the cure” program that spent nearly $1 million suing groups like “cupcakes for the cure” and “kites for the cure” over their daring attempts to use the now-trademarked phrase “for the cure.” Critics also pointed to Komen’s relentless marketing of pink ribbon-themed products, including a Komen-branded perfume alleged to contain carcinogens, and pink buckets of fried chicken, a campaign that led one rival breast cancer advocacy group to ask, “what the cluck?”…

But these problems are minuscule compared to Komen’s biggest failing—its near outright denial of tumor biology…the notion that breast cancer is a uniformly progressive disease that starts small and only grows and spreads if you don’t stop it in time is flat out wrong. I call it breast cancer’s false narrative, and it’s a fairy tale that Komen has relentlessly perpetuated…

Komen isn’t wrong to encourage women to consider mammography. But they’re dead wrong to imply that “the key to surviving breast cancer” is “you” and the difference between a 98% survival rate and a 23% one is vigilance on the part of the victim. This message flies in the face of basic cancer biology…

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Komen charity under microscope for funding, science

Title: Komen charity under microscope for funding, science

Author: Sharon Begley

Publication:  Reuters

Date: February 7, 2012

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure charity defines its mission as finding a cure for breast cancer. In recent years, however, it has cut by nearly half the proportion of fund-raising dollars it spends on grants to scientists working to understand the causes and develop effective new treatments for the disease…

Critics within the philanthropic and research communities in particular have raised questions over its scientific approach to some issues and how it spends the money it raises…

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Komen executive quits as questions persist

Title: Komen executive quits as questions persist

Author: Shari Roan, Eryn Brown

Publication:  Los Angeles Times

Date: February 07, 2012

…The injection of abortion politics into the mission of fighting breast cancer has prompted thousands of Komen supporters to reevaluate the nonprofit group that encouraged them to wear pink ribbons, participate in 5K fundraising races and buy products from companies that pledged to donate some of the proceeds to the charity.

Many of them now say they are uncomfortable with the size of the foundation’s executive salaries, lawsuits against smaller nonprofit groups, partnerships with companies whose products may increase breast cancer risk and lack of investment in research to prevent and treat the disease.

“The Planned Parenthood controversy is just the culmination of things that have been happening for a while,” said Samantha King, a professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, and author of the book “Pink Ribbons, Inc.”

Komen officials did not respond to requests to discuss the matter Tuesday….

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Pastel Injustice: The Corporate Use of Pinkwashing for Profit

Title: Pastel Injustice: The Corporate Use of Pinkwashing for Profit

Authors: Amy Lubitow and Mia Davis

Publication: Environmental Justice

Publication Date: June 17, 2011

This article discusses the importance of recognizing pinkwashing, the practice of using the color pink and pink ribbons to indicate a company has joined the search for a breast cancer cure and to invoke breast cancer solidarity, even when the company may be using chemicals linked to cancer. This article argues that pinkwashing is a form of social injustice directed at women in the United States because the practice a) provides a vehicle for corporations to control the public experience of breast cancer, while simultaneously increasing profits and potentially contributing to the rising rate of the disease; b) obscures an environmental health discourse that recognizes the environmental causes of breast cancer; and c) co-opts or redirects women’s experiences of the disease by narrowly defining what is possible.

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Susan G. Komen for the Cure Isn’t Curing Anything

Title: Susan G. Komen for the Cure Isn’t Curing Anything

Author: Amy

Publication: Just West of Crunchy blog

Publication Date: June 3, 2011

Susan G. Komen for the Cure isn’t curing anything. This is an organization I used to really support. I have a history of breast cancer in my family and the two naturally met. But the more I’ve learned about Komen, the more upset I’ve become at the way their organization works.

This isn’t going to be an exhaustive list of everything I find to be wrong with Susan G. Komen for the Cure [Komen, herein]. I’m going to touch on a few of the more egregious points and some of the things I’ve learned most recently. A lot of people have rosy Pink glasses on when it comes to Komen; today, I’m asking you to suspend whatever you believe about this nonprofit and think critically about them.  If you walk away still liking them, that’s fine. But I hope people will at least be open to the idea that this organization isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

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Promise me you’ll read the ingredients on this pink perfume!

Title: Promise me you’ll read the ingredients on this pink perfume!

Author: Kim Irish

Publication: Think Before You Pink blog / Breast Cancer Action

Publication Date: June 1, 2011

Susan G. Komen for the Cure has partnered with TPR Holdings, LLC, a New York City-based investor and operator in the consumer products industry, to create a perfume called Promise Me.  According to the fragrance’s website, the pink-tinted Promise Me is “The Scent of Inspiration.”  Its neatly packaged bottles and gift sets, with the all-too-familiar Komen ribbon emblazoned on the side, remind us that it’s not just inspiration Komen and TPR Holdings wants – they want us to shop our way to a cure.

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Merchandise tie-ins to breast cancer awareness have some seeing red over all that pink

Title: Merchandise tie-ins to breast cancer awareness have some seeing red over all that pink

Author: Kim Horner

Publication: dallasnews.com

Publication Date: October 28, 2010

The pink rubber duckies may be cute. But can they really help cure breast cancer?

What about the pink buckets of fried chicken?

Or one of the most controversial breast cancer awareness products, a Smith & Wesson handgun with pink grips and an engraved pink ribbon?

“Where does it end?” said Gayle Sulik of Denton, author of Pink Ribbon Blues: How Breast Cancer Culture Undermines Women’s Health .

During “Pinktober,” as some call October’s breast cancer awareness month, everything from dental picks to NFL players’ cleats turns pink.

Sulik’s new book is part of a growing backlash against a movement that critics say has become more focused on making money than finding a cure.

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Pinkwashing Statement

Title: Pinkwashing Statement

Author: Katie Ford Hall

Publication:  Uneasy Pink blog

Publication Date: October 4, 2010

In the past week, I’ve had a few spirited discussions with people about the topic of pinkwashing. I’d like to explain my stance, such as it is today.

For starters, let me say that I resist the idea of talking points. I think that leads us to making a choice between one camp or the other and, frankly, I don’t think that is a true reflection of us as individuals or as a society. In fact, I think this push to dumb down complex issues into black and white (or pink) creates a whole lot more problems than it solves. But that’s an entirely other topic.

Let me start with the Goliath. Komen.  They have largely been responsible for elevating the cause of breast cancer to an international cause.  In pre-Komen days, breast cancer was in the closet – shameful and discussed in whispers only.  Komen gave us a rational language with which to discuss breast cancer, destigmatizing the issue by separating it from the culture of over-sexualized female images.  They brought forward faces of breast cancer and statistics, giving the disease the gravitas it deserves.  For that, I am filled with gratitude.

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