Breast Cancer Awareness or Pinkwashing
| October 3, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Natural Health, Toxins |
It’s that time of year again, the time when everything seems to be pink, even football. This is said to bring awareness but it often is hiding a dark secret, and that secret is that the product displaying the pink ribbon may cause the very illness those ribbons are fighting.
Sadly this year Susan G. Komen for the Cure has reached a new low when it comes to pinkwashing. They commissioned a perfume called “Promise Me.” This perfume contains at least three cancer causing ingredients! Watch this video to learn more.
Breast cancer awareness is great but it isn’t worth causing more cancer. Of course one thing to think about is the fact that Susan G. Komen is supported by some companies working on cancer drugs and those drug companies have reasons to want to cure cancer and not prevent it. If we prevent cancer who will buy their drugs?
Having watched someone close to me die of breast cancer and currently waiting to find out if a close friend has it, I don’t think a cure is enough.We need to prevent it in the first place. The Breast Cancer Fund shares that belief and is fighting to prevent cancer in the first place. They only put their label on products that aren’t known to cause cancer and only take money from companies that don’t sell toxic products.
So this year before you go pink, check out Think Before You Pink and think prevention. Together we can help bring down cancer rates and prevent families from having to go through the pain that comes from a cancer diagnosis. Be sure to also tell Susan G. Komen that they need to stop putting their label on toxic products and to recall “Promise Me” perfume.
OK, I’m a cynic, but it isn’t just this perfume that has me raising my eyebrows.
Breat Cancer products – everything from pink candles and and body soaps through to pink tim tams – have been on sale for over a decade and a half, in my memory. Probably longer.
So someone is making a LOT of money out of this stuff. Millions and millions.
Where is all the cash going? Who is watching the dollar flow? Is it actually *helping* anyone with breast cancer, or preventing anyone getting sick? I’m doubtful.
I’ve stopped buying anything to do with the breast cancer fund. My view is that the best way to help women with this terrible disease is to be there for them, as a friend and family member.
And the best way to reduce the incidence of breast cancer certainly isn’t to eat packets of pink tim tams or douse our breasts in scented pink body wash.
Just my 2c.
I have been talking about this for a few years and yes there are more that are bad, my point was this product was made by Susan G Komen, making it even worse (which is why I said they reached a new low).
Most pink products donate a VERY small amount to Komen and yes they have a lot of money.
Why not buy anything from the Breast Cancer Fund? They are the group fighting pinkwashing and only take money from companies that do NOT have products that cause cancer. They are putting money into research on preventing cancer. Products like Seventh Generation, People Towels, etc… are the companies that Breast Cancer Fund puts their label on.
I have issues w/Susan G. Komen foundation anyway. A friend of mine who is a cancer survivor called them to ask how their money is distributed for breast cancer research, etc. They told her that very little money goes to any research facilities, it is just poured back into the foundation. It is not helping anyone. Also, I read in the news that last year that same foundation gave half million dollars to Planned Parenthood who knowingly lied saying they give mammograms to the low income. This is not true at all. The most Planned Parenthood can do is a manual exam, which women can do on their own w/the same results. It has been reported that the money PP received from Susan G. Komen foundation has gone to support the abortion program at PP, which is contradicting the foundation’s purpose. According to research, abortions put women as higher risk of cancer. The more I hear about Susan G. Komen foundation, the more I want to steer people away from it.
Yes, I have a lot more respect for the Breast Cancer Fund than Komen’s, which seems to have it’s head in the sand about the link b/t cancer and environmental toxins.
[...] Even Susan G. Komen is pinkwashing. Watch the video and understand this is nothing shocking to those of us involved in chemical safety research, but recognize what an enormous disappointment 3 for those working for breast cancer research this is. [...]
I also hate this time of year. Buying “pink” products does not help with a cure. The little money that actually doesn’t go into the manufacturers’ pockets goes to research more drugs to make big pharma richer. What is needed is research and information on prevention.
[...] perfume called “Promise Me” and it contains cancer causing ingredients. Whaat?? Lisa over at Retro Housewife Goes Green gives a great synopsis of the bigger problem of [...]
Thank you for this post, and for making us aware of the other org that is doing better. I didn’t know about them. Problem with many medical non-profits is that they eventually become captured orgs as pharmaceutical money sinks in. Then the agenda becomes only about pills. Don’t get me wrong – we need the pills, but we also need prevention.
Our major research non-profit in Autism is still young, but the pharma influence is filtering in. No doubt research agendas will shift from identification root causes to pills soon only enough, sadly.
We saw this in the Autism community a few years back when our major research non-profit partnered in fundraising with some sugar-filled, food coloring laden cereal company — just the sort of stuff that zaps some of the kids neurologically.
Sharing your important post.