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Health & Wellness

How Breast Cancer Became Big Business

By Anne Landman, PR Watch. Posted June 14, 2008.


"Shopping for a cure" often does more harm than good. Don't let slick advertisers sucker you into it.
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You've heard the term "greenwashing." It refers to corporations that try to appear "green" without reducing their negative impact on the environment.

Since 2002, the group Breast Cancer Action has promoted its "Think Before You Pink" campaign. It's fighting "pinkwashing," which is when corporations try to boost sales by associating their products with the fight against breast cancer. Pinkwashing is a form of slacktivism -- a campaign that makes people feel like they're helping solve a problem, while they're actually doing more to boost corporate profits. Pinkwashing has been around for a while, but is now reaching almost unbelievable levels.

The worst pinkwashers exploit the intense emotions associated with breast cancer while selling products that actually contribute to breast cancer.

So how can the average person recognize pinkwashing? Here are some examples.

BMW's "Ultimate Drive" and Ford's "Warriors in Pink" Campaigns

Test drives for the cure?Test drives for the cure?Automaker BMW is in its 12th year of a promotion called "The Ultimate Drive," in which the company encourages people to test drive luxury BMWs to support breast cancer research. For the promotion, BMW sends a pink-striped fleet of BMW luxury cars to various locations around the country and encourages people to test-drive them, promising to donate $1 per mile driven to breast cancer research.

Besides selling more cars, BMW's goal is to rack up one million test-driven miles and donate $1 million to cancer research. A laudable goal, but it ignores the fact that the campaign encourages more and unnecessary driving, not to mention that automobile exhaust contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, harmful chemicals known to cause cancer. Adding to the purchasing hype, BMW's "Ultimate Drive" website links to a shopping page where visitors are encouraged to buy pink keychain fobs, pens, handbags, polo shirts, lapel pins and tote bags and other trinkets from "BMW's Pink Ribbon Collection."

Ford is also using breast cancer as a marketing tool, promoting a special "Warriors in Pink" Mustang car featuring pink-stitched seats, floor mats with pink breast cancer awareness ribbons, pink pinstriping and a pink ribbon behind the Mustang horse logo. The website for the car states, "Winning the race against breast cancer is going to take a whole lot of horsepower. ... Now, the limited edition 2008 V-6 Mustang with Warriors in Pink Package adds more muscle to the fight." A whopping $250 from the sale of each car will go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Cosmetics sales campaigns

Cosmetic companies also use breast cancer to market their products, especially during October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Revlon has a campaign called "Kisses for the Cure" that urges women to buy lipstick to fight breast cancer. Revlon tells women they can "Pucker up and Kiss Breast Cancer Goodbye."

Shiseido promises to "empower" women by donating a portion of sales of its "Bare Pink Hydro Power Eye Shadow" to a program that supports women who work after their breast cancer treatment.

Estee Lauder sells a $45 "Pink Ribbon Compact" that comes with a little pink ribbon charm attached to it. The company also promotes its "Global Landmarks Illumination Initiative," in which it bathes the Mall of America, among other landmarks, in pink floodlights to "raise awareness of breast cancer."


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Another Important Medical Cause Corrupted
[Report this comment]
Posted by: drricklippin on Jun 17, 2008 4:31 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Thanks for this important piece.

Yes -the tragedy of breast cancer has been corrupted by big business.I have been watching this for several decades since "the race for the cure" was founded.A classical example of how seemingly noble movements becoming very large cannot resist the influence of big monied interests.

The lack of emphasis on prevention in the mainstream "breast cancer industry" is a tragedy bordering on the immoral.

Many people-especially women- have been duped.

Individuals will always be cured of breast and other cancers thank goodness but there is no "cure for cancer" since the most important risk factor,generally, is the celluar aging process.

When we "cure aging" maybe we can cure cancer.

But we sure can do better!

Regaring what I call the three "C"s of cancer which are Cause, Cure and Care we need a massive reallocation of dollars and other resources from cure to cause and care. Cause relates to cancer prevention.Care relates to the recognition of the limits of bio-medicine and our humanity.

Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa
http://medicalcrises.blogspot.com

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» READING THE small PRINT Posted by: Prairie Waif
Hallalujah!!! finally got how the Corps have infiltrated the 'Left'
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Purple Girl on Jun 17, 2008 5:57 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Not just the Corps but the NeoCons have been working both sides of the street- through Chaos comes Control.
Give theme the idea you are one of them and you've got them by the short hairs.
A recent article here regarding How corps have undermined a womans right to have children is a clear examaple.Granted requiring a 2 person income has been a boom for Corps- the reality that they have actually undermined their own future work force (endentured Slaves) have caused this new stratedgy.Couldn't guarantee the Religious Right could Guilt people to reproduce- and have seen their steady decline in support, so they've Repackaged it as a 'Woman's Choice 'Issue. 'fight Us bad Corps for not letting you fulfill your Biological needs!It's your right to give Birth!' they are Willing to been 'Villians' to serve their own needs- crafty subverssive tactic.
Woman have to see these stratedgic methods of manipulation. Our Freedom is in not having Anything place demands on Our personal decisions- To Birth or Not to Birth, Is a Question answered by individuals not Orgnaizations.Period.
'Shop for the Cure' is a blatant tactic- But we must watch for the ones that are far more subliminal.

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Breasts, the other *white* meat
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Prairie Waif on Jun 17, 2008 6:04 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Last weekend, The Winnipeg Free Press (Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA) printed its entire edition in pink. I refused to purchase it and commented to the cashier, "Because they are *BOOBS* they get the "up front" attention.

MORE WOMEN DIE OF HEART DISEASE, EVERY DAY, THAN DIE OF BREAST CANCER.

But hearts don't show in tiny bikini's, or propped in Victoria's Secret or anything that shows decolletage; the more, and the firmer, the better.

RACISM, when was the last time you saw a woman of color speak and represent a Breast Cancer Awareness? Is it only because WHITE women get the education-->jobs-->health care? If you are poor and don't have access to health care, or your breast aren't the "firm white globes" seen on Hollywood starlets who flaunt $15,000 augmentations, they don't get screen time or commercialization; is *that* a good thing?

I am sick and tired of a society *FIXATED* on BOOBS. We need to treat bodies in their entirety with prevention as the main focus.

Also, HEART HEALTH FOR WOMEN needs to become the FIXATION of their health; they are more likely to leave loved ones behind, suddenly due to heart disease/attacks than breast cancer.

Women of *all* colors need to have a heart health check-up EVERY YEAR and be more conscious of family risk factors for heart disease, with a known genetic link, than being suckered into the *Think Pink* campaign.

There are no "dragon boat races" of heart disease patients; they do not live, or live an extremely modified and continuously medication monitored life, if they survive a heart attack.

The knowledge of women's heart attacks and disease has shown that women have different symptomology preceeding an attack and related to disease indicators.

If *WHITE* breasts suddenly became *100% women of color* breasts in ALL of the advertising to fund breast cancer research, how large would this campaign be? If they weren't women of high profile? If they weren't middle class women in Desperate Housewives, Sex in the City, or Ex-Charlie's Angels?

Name a high profile actress or public figure, of color, that has been profiled and campaigned for the THINK PINK profiteering, let alone acknowledgement. Right. I thought so.

Now, *who* do you *know*, as a woman in television or public life, representing the #1 killer of *ALL* women, of all ages? Right. I thought so.

The real problem is inside; literally and psychologically. How many women feel LESS than feminine after a heart attack? Right. I thought so.

Breasts, the other *white* meat.

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Yopeace
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Yopeace on Jun 17, 2008 6:10 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Thank you for this important article. It points out the obvious but it needs to be repeated many times over.

Breast cancer used to be a hush hush affair. The efforts to shine some light on the disease, support the patients, and educate about the process of getting through it, if not better, have cumulated into this big business ripoff.

This is an important article that needs wide exposure...well intentioned people are duped by the marketing tactics. Why is that? Well, consider the fact that the USA is all about marketing tactics - what isn't marketed in this country? The backstory is all about peeling away the layers that create the conditions that translate to market-everything-all-the-time.

Setting up examples to help folks understand the concept of stop shopping is a start. As an actual breast cancer survivor I can assure all the good folks that pink ribbons and pink everythings do not offer the support that is needed.

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saveusall
[Report this comment]
Posted by: saveusall on Jun 17, 2008 7:27 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The "Think Pink" baloney has become one of the most corrupt forms of solicitation. BC survivors gradually catch on to the fact that it is more about money and marketing than anything to do with cancer. And the devastating factor is that Komen and ACS and various other groups don't get it, and don't wish to hear the brilliant commentary which is out there.

ANY money raised needs to be distributed in a different format. While thousands of BC patients become survivors, those who suffer ovarian or pancreatic or various blood cancers die, and there is no population who can participate in clinical trials - these cancers are not getting the attention they deserve.

The products which are produced in pink are, in many cases, TOTALLY unnecessary to own.

TRANSPARENCY IN THE FUNDING IS THE MAJOR ISSUE, and BCAction has indeed done a stellar job, and has taken a leadership role, in trying to bring the critical issues to the forefront. In fact I believe they are doing far more than Komen and ACS. I know personally of situations where these giant consortiums have tried to put grassroots organizations OUT OF BUSINESS!

Please makes demands on the purveyors of the disgusting marketing and money making schemes for raising "some/a portion/part/etc." for cancer research. They border on the criminal. The marketing movement/"awareness drive is becoming a cancer itself.

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The Medical Industry is all wrong
[Report this comment]
Posted by: topview on Jun 17, 2008 7:45 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Cancer is when cells mutate and then replicate.

To stop that from happening you need to stop eating the Food industries garbage they fill with cancer causing additives.

Two Natural products that keep that from happening
L-Carnosine and Acetyl L-Carnitine these two products will aid in the proper osmoses of cell reproduction and help the cells last up to 3 times their normal life, but they have to be taken together.
Another thing you need is the proper minerals in your food.All 72 essential ionic trace minerals are now available in one product and is exactly what your cellular system requires for optimal health.
It is FrequenSea Frequensea has Marine Phytoplankton as it's main ingredient and Marine Phytoplankton has all the ingredients to supply your cellular system everything they require so they can keep your body healthy.
When you have all you body needs and it is what Nature intended for optimal health, you will stay healthy.
Another thing that will kill cancer is MMS (Chlorine Dioxide) It will kill all pathogens that enter your body and remove all heavy metals and toxins, Bar None.
I take all three products and I have cured my cancer and my Brothers Lymphoma with it.

You can read about all of these on my blog
Watch Video Also

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Mike Drabik, Toledo, Ohio
[Report this comment]
Posted by: drabikmr on Jun 17, 2008 9:39 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The author "forgot" to mention three other things a woman can do to help prevent breast cancer:

1. Bear a child in her early 20's;
2. Never use abortion instead carry a child to full-term;
3. Avoid the use of chemical contraceptives.

Doing these will allow breast cells to develop properly for interrupting their development (as abortion does) or interfering with their development (as chemical contraceptives do) can be a cause of breast cancer.

Yes, I know, most who post here won't like that.

But at least we can all agree on one thing: the Race for the Cure and other anti-breast cancer fund-raisers are a big business activity that in end does not really care anything about women, but with lining one's pockets with money at women's expense.

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» Abortion - breast cancer link Posted by: BlueTigress
» RE: Mike Drabik, Toledo, Ohio Posted by: morticia
Alternet May 31, 2000: Pot Shrinks Tumors...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: garry minor on Jun 17, 2008 11:19 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Hey Alternet!!!

How about reprinting the article by Raymond Cushing from the year 2000 that states "Pot shrinks Tumors, Government knew in 74."

Its a great article about Dr. Manuel Guzman of Complutense University in Madrid Spain and how THC destroys tumors with no negative side effects whatsoever. Its a great article!

Think about all the suffering since 1974. Think about it! Sure has made lots of people really rich though, huh!

THC is also proven to promote the growth of brain cells and both prevent and cure Alzheimers. It's true. Cannabis has been found extremely helpful with MS, ALS, epilepsy, chronic pain, arthritis, migraine, asthma, emphysema, OCD, ADHD, lupus, glaucoma, skin and eating disorders, cystic fibrosis, depression, nausea, tuberculosis, diabetes, herpes, Parkinsons, Huntingtons, Tourettes, Crohn's disease, and more. Yet our FDA continues to demonize it with lies and propaganda, once again to benefit those same rich people.
It's seed is also the single most nutritious thing you can eat, and re-introduced to our diets can alleviate many of the diseases this society now suffers from and are mentioned above. This seed can end world hunger.

And guess what else? Anything made from oil, coal, timber, or cotton can be made with it. Thats right, all those petrochemicals polluting our air, soil, and water, and the need for stripping our land of tree's can be replaced using industrial hemp. It is by far the best source of biomass on the planet, better than corn, kenaf, sugarcane, or anything else, PERIOD!!! THERE IS NO BETTER RESOURCE FOR BIOMASS. All paper, plastics, packaging, fuels, textiles, paints, varnishes, lubricants, insulations, plywood, structural components, many cosmetics, and health foods, over 25,000 known products, can all be made with it. It grows without most fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides to foul the soil and water, in soil and conditions other crops will not grow.
I'd say we have been robbed of a very important resource for the past 70 years for the benefit of a very few. They have censored the most useful plant on the planet, a plant this Nation was founded with, from our history books. And look at the sorry condition of our Earth in such a very short time.

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Cancer and Carbs
[Report this comment]
Posted by: mtnprivy on Jun 17, 2008 4:51 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Since my wife is diabetic I have been reading everything I can get on the subject.
When you eat those carbs that are high glycemic index (white potatoes, white starches, sugar, etc.) they hit the bloodstream fast. The high blood sugar induces really high insulin levels, because it is the body's signal to the cells to please absorb and use that glucose. If you fail to exercise, pretty soon your cells refuse to use that glucose (insulin resistance)
In either case, the high glucose levels in the blood, and also the high insulin levels in the blood are both bad news, especially to modern sedentary "couch-potatoes." Cancer loves to feed on high sugar levels in the blood, since cancer is one hungry disease.
Instead of focusing on prevention by way of exercise and eating right (low glycemic index) and getting good nutrition, the cancer industry focuses on yearly Xray exposure after 40. Is it any wonder that they eventually find breast cancer? Are they really saving lives, or just saving your income to go into their pockets? When you look beyond the definition of "cancer survivor" to see how long people live, it makes you wonder.
Search google or youtube video for "jerry brunetti" for more about cancer.

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You Want to Know the Truth?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Stoney 12+1 on Jun 17, 2008 5:26 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
HERE'S THE TRUTH!!! The United States Government doesn't give a rat's ass about cancer of ANY kind!

If it did, marijuana would have been the subject of in depth studies in 1974! But instead, the DEA hushed up the study, to protect it's bottom line!

Yet still "we The Sheople" sit on our collective asses and believe that "our government" has our best interests at heart!

There is only one answer, and that is to LEGALIZE MARIJUANA IMEDIATELTY!!!

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Much belated article missing key points
[Report this comment]
Posted by: stellabloo on Jun 19, 2008 9:11 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I was riveted by a news story last night about the discovery that LIFESTYLE changes can actually alter the genes that predispose us to cancer.
I mean, not even our much-vaunted medical monolith has been able to do this ... yet we can do it ourselves WITHOUT pharmaceutical drugs. (Of course, for some of you that may mean actually changing your lifestyle.)

Anyway, that was NEWS. Probably about to be buried in the back pages though, as it doesn't require expensive pills. I read an article on the Pink Ribbon campaign YEARS ago in the freely distributed Alive magazine - basically the campaign was started by MONSANTO ueber-hypocrite manufacturer of the herbicide Roundup and just about every other toxic cheimical known to man.

So by supporting the Pink Ribbon campaign, you are enabling Monsanto to do everything BUT clean up their act.

Our own CBC did an excellent special some YEARS ago, by a cancer victim and journalist, revealing how cancer research was big, big business while the flood of toxic chemicals into our homes and environment remains unchecked. Cancer prevention is condensed to a list of tips - eat broccoli. Pinpointing the effects of years of cumulative exposure or eliminating known carcinogens - well, that does not generate revenue. Sorry, you lose!

Aside from all the other toxins shoved at us, women are uniquely bombarded by commercials encouraging us to slather our bodies with product from head to toe. Please be aware! if birth control and nicotine can be absorbed through the skin, then so can the chemicals in your anti-perspirant, body wash, moisturizer, make-up, hair colour, etc etc! If you really care about yourself, you will become label-literate, educate yourself on the most common carcinogens (eg parabens, lauryl sulfates) and refuse to buy mystery product.

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Corporate Shame
[Report this comment]
Posted by: BCSurvivorx2 on Jun 21, 2008 7:56 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I came across this article while looking for something else. I just called a friend of mine who worked for Avon Corporate when I got Breast Cancer. I was an Avon lady at the time. After reading this wonderful article and discussing it she and I both felt that I should share my story.

Here's a little heartwarming Avon story for you to chew on. I was an Avon gal, and a darn good one. I sold the heck out of the stuff. I had a booming little business and a nice 'down-line'. Then one day I found out I had Breast Cancer. I had it bad. After several surgeries and into my first round of Chemo, I realized I couldn't pull the numbers I had been pulling for Avon. I knew that I couldn't maintain my current numbers in order to keep my downline unless Avon would cut me some slack and give me 6 months or so to get through my Cancer.

I went to my local Avon manager and was told there was little they could do for me. They begged me to try and hang in there as many other Avon ladies had had Cancer and somehow kept working. I gave it a valiant effort, but when it began to affect my health adversely, my family begged me to stop.

I went higher in the Avon food-chain and begged for help. I thought that surely the company that touts their efforts at raising money world-wide for Breast Cancer would have mercy when one of their most avid supporters and dedicated foot-soldiers had been stricken with the same disease. Much to my shock they couldn't care less.

I ended up losing my entire downline and with a heavy heart handed my customers off to the top earners I had. I had to concentrate on healing, and could not do that if I had to work 30 hours a week at selling and training for Avon.

I survived my bout with Cancer, but it was a long and costly journey. One of the saddest things in the whole situation was the realization that the company I had bragged on for years for their philanthropic endeavors had let me and all the other Avon Breast Cancer gals down by turning their backs on us when we needed them most.

I'll never use another Avon product, and will tell my story whenever the opportunity comes up -- such as this one.

Avon is in it for the dough. They couldn't give a flying fig about the armies of women out their hawking their products. I sold the heck out of Avon's Pink Ribbon products because I believed in "the cause" and because my customers would buy more knowing that I pushed those products -- even though I'd make NO commission on them. But Avon doesn't care about that. They just want their money.

Some small local charities do use those monies to really help women and their families; I've seen that first hand. But I've also seen the large slimy corporate side of it and it's an ugly thing.

Think hard before you buy pink products from Avon or any other large Corp. Might be a better wiser choice to look for local charities that can show you where your donation is going. Donate directly to them instead of buying that watch or that hat or that pin. Follow the advice in this article. And be a champion for good health to your family; all good habits start at home.

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