Save the Boobies!
It’s October, and it is expected that you will see a lot of pink. Pink ribbons, pink shirts, pinks hats, pink lipstick, pink cupcakes, pink everything. It’s breast cancer awareness month, and so for the remainder of the month, we will be bombarded with the importance of brining attention to it. We see NFL players wearing pink on the field and golfers on tour wearing pink ribbons. It’s getting to the point where every time I see the color pink, I think of breast cancer.
And, in case you haven’t noticed, the business of breast cancer is everywhere. A lot of companies are making money off of ‘raising’ money for breast cancer. At Jersey Mikes, you can buy a “pink ribbon combo.” The NFL only gives 5% from each purchase of pink sporting equipment to breast cancer charities. The means for every $100 sold in pink NFL gear, breast cancer research takes only $3.45 of it. Estée Lauder was the first company who saw the need to raise money for breast cancer research. They have given more than $8 million for research in the last twenty years.
So, what happens with all the money earned from the selling of t-shirts, hats, jewelry and other miscellaneous items? Are women's breasts actually in better shape?
Every three minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. One out of eight women will develop a form of breast cancer. The market is certainly there for companies to capitalize on the need to bring awareness and money to this cause.
Here is a list of different products you can buy that will also help these companies bank off of cancer:
- Tweezerman: Step right up and get these pink tweezers at a mere $22! They will donate $1 to breast cancer research for each pair sold.
- Lisa Hoffman Beauty Tunisian Neroli Fragrance: At $65 you can smell like a rose. 50% of the proceeds will go towards research.
- Aveda Hand Relief Lotion: smooth your hands out at $22 a bottle. $4 of each purchase will go to research. Aveda will give only $270,000 max towards breast cancer.
- Bobbi Brown Bronzer: $45 will brighten up your skin and $10 of it will go to research.
- Smashbox Legendary Lipstick: At $19 you’ll pucker up your lips and $5 of it will go towards saving the boobies.
For a full list, visit this website HERE.
The list if filled with cosmetics aimed towards women. And it’s a great marketing ploy. Not only are these companies selling products that will make women feel prettier and look good; they are making their prospective customers feel like they are doing something good by contributing towards finding a cure for breast cancer.
Breast cancer is an important issue that does need attention. There are four women that I know personally that have developed breast cancer. Luckily they all caught it in time to treat it right away. A couple of the women contributed beating the cancer to the awareness of the issue of itself to get check ups and learn how to check their breasts.
I have a distaste, however, for companies are cashing in on such an important issue.
And guess what? The way pink is thrown around, one could assume that is it the number one killer of women. But, it’s not. Heart disease kills 1 in 4 women in the United States. That is double the amount women who are diagnosed with breast cancer. Each year, heart disease claims the lives of more women then breast cancer and lung cancer combined. One has to wonder why the public isn’t aware of this disease and why cities aren’t covered in red, instead.
I would like to see a greater marketing push for companies to bring awareness to heart disease since it often affects women at a much younger age than breast cancer. I would also like to see companies not profit off of women’s diseases or cancer and instead give the full profits or a majority of them to research. Women's lives are at stake and profit should not take priority.
Maybe if we really get behind the scientists, doctors and other researchers with not only our dollars but with our voices, then cancer could really become a thing of the past.
For more information on heart disease check this out.
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