"Pinkwashing": how brands have turned awareness into breast cancer

Pink ribbons, pink candles, pink sweaters, pink yoghurt labels, pink lipstick: an infinite range of products sold under the name of breast cancer awareness appeals to the consumer's sense of defense and his activism by offering a simple way to support a cause. Pink products – which are proliferating especially in October, designated since 1985 as Breast Cancer Awareness Month – would provide a percentage of profit for cancer research or awareness. The idea is that money from the purchase of these branded items helps to bring the disease closer to eradication.

But the real benefit of this pink overload is not so rosy. For years, there have been negative reactions to the "pinkwashing" and the commercialization of breast cancer. Activists pointed out that it was almost impossible to trace the funds allocated for cancer research and that survivors explained how their disease was exploited in the name of profit. Medical experts also fear that breast cancer awareness products do just that: they bring "awareness" without offering any concrete information about the disease to help educate the public.

Gayle Sulik, a medical sociologist at the University of Albany, devotes years to researching the pink products industry and how companies have turned breast cancer awareness into a big business . His book of 2011, Rose Blues Ribbon, has won awards and received praise from critics for his involvement in the shadows industry

Since then, Sulik has launched the Breast Cancer Consortium, a research group dedicated to highlighting critical knowledge in health and evidence-based medicine. I recently told him about the history of pink products, why the idea of ​​shopping for a cause is rooted in sexism and how buyers can make informed decisions about how to defend their interests. This interview has been edited and condensed.

Chavie Lieber

How did you enter this area of ​​research? What did you know?

Gayle Sulik

I started studying breast cancer when I was in graduate school. A friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 35. She was treated without cancer for a few years, then had a recurrence that spread to other parts of her body. She was treated for metastatic breast cancer until she died at the age of 40.

In her last years, we talked a lot about what she was going through. She had no interest in support groups, pink ribbons or cancer marches; she just wanted to live. She did not understand the point, beyond the possibility of raising funds for research. So I started to examine [money for research]. The more I watched, the more I learned that something else was happening and that it had nothing to do with research. Breast cancer received the "mark" and businesses used the pink ribbon as a logo, not the rallying message it was supposed to be.

Chavie Lieber

Where does the pink ribbon symbol of breast cancer come from?

Gayle Sulik

[The idea started with] Charlotte Haley, a 68-year-old activist [whose mother and sister battled cancer]. She was distributing fishing ribbons [in the early ’90s] raise public awareness of the lack of federal funding for breast cancer prevention. She hand-tied fishing ribbons to information cartons saying, "The annual budget of the National Cancer Institute is $ 1.8 billion; Only 5% go to cancer prevention. Help us wake up our lawmakers and the United States by wearing this ribbon. Haley wrote editorials, contacted women from the public and distributed the fishing ribbons on her community's premises to spread the message.

Evelyn Lauder [whose family owned the beauty company Estée Lauder] asked Haley to use her fishing tape for a Self magazine [campaign]but Haley refused because she did not want her message to be diluted or marketed. The simple solution? Change the color. Evelyn Lauder and Self magazine presented the pink ribbon as the official breast cancer awareness symbol for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in 1992.

The pink color symbolized the virtuous and irreproachable aspects of breast cancer and the femininity that the disease threatened. In 1993, breast cancer became the darling of big business and the pink ribbon is the logo.

Andrew D. Bernstein / NBAE via Getty Images

Chavie Lieber

Why is October associated with breast cancer?

Gayle Sulik

The first national breast cancer awareness movement was in 1985 and lasted a week. Betty Ford helped get started [a breast cancer survivor], with the idea of ​​disseminating information. It was finally transferred in October, although the time to take advantage of breast cancer awareness is throughout the year. Mother's Day is an important moment for breast cancer awareness and Komen races are held throughout the year. Avon [which also runs breast cancer awareness events] said that they too were not limited to October. But it is at this time of year that you start seeing pink products everywhere.

Chavie Lieber

Can any one use the pink logo to make money with products now, or is it a brand?

Gayle Sulik

Some groups have filed some style of ribbon. For example, Susan G. Komen filed a trademark for her pink ribbon style. If you see their ribbon on a product, it means that this article is associated with Komen. But a pink ribbon usually is not a trademark, so everyone can put a ribbon on anything. The industry is totally unregulated, so everyone can make pink products and say that they give money to breast cancer without anyone being held responsible.

Chavie Lieber

Who are the players in the breast cancer awareness economy and what is its market?

Gayle Sulik

It is all over. The pink ribbon could be said to have helped create a cottage industry around breast cancer awareness, as companies "stand in line" for the pink ribbon. Everyone you can imagine makes pink products. There are pink clothes, groceries like eggs and yeast with pink labels, pink technology. A few years ago, there was even a pink fracturing drill made by Baker Hughes – which is entering the ground, what kind of sensitization does it bring? This has also caused a lot of scrutiny from Komen, who has a history of questionable partnerships.

To give you a good idea of ​​the attractiveness of this pink industry, I'm going to present you a trip I made to Pennsylvania two weeks ago: I took a flight with American Airlines, where they had ribbon towels pink. There were signs of pink ribbon at the car rental agency. A few hours later, in a small town in Pennsylvania, I met a tow truck with the message "Tow for Tatas" with a pink ribbon. Then I went past a bank with a sign of people wearing pink ribbons. And all this in a few hours! There were so many pink products, but none of that said anything to me.

Chavie Lieber

Does anyone know where the money really goes for breast cancer awareness?

Gayle Sulik

The vast majority of funding for breast cancer research comes from the federal government and not from cause marketing campaigns. With money from pink products, the numbers are difficult to track because they are not all part of the marketing programs of the official cause. This is the main problem of this industry: anyone can buy something that says they are related to breast cancer awareness or have images about it, but it might just as well not be related to the cause. For many companies, this is another way to make a profit, since October is the season for breast cancer.

Think of companies like Estée Lauder or Ann Taylor. They both have great connections to breast cancer. Go to Ann Taylor and there will be a promotion to have a discount percentage going to the Avon Foundation. Breast cancer is therefore a promotion for buyers. At any other time of the year, they will market with another type of promotion. So, in my opinion, this is another advertising campaign. It's marketing that earns a certain amount of money, which they can absorb through advertising.

Chavie Lieber

But what is wrong with spending money on marketing to raise awareness of the disease?

Gayle Sulik

Although awareness campaigns stimulate interest in breast cancer as a social cause in fashion, they do little to promote knowledge about breast cancer. The commercialization of breast cancer has contributed to a light approach to advocacy and advocacy that is very often focused on fun activities in the name of breast cancer awareness. This trivializes breast cancer and limits our ability to understand what it really means to cope with the disease, to live in medical uncertainty and to accept the harsh realities of risk, recurrence, treatment and even death.

In the book Hide politics in the eyes of allPatricia Strach shows how marketing in particular alleviates issues such as cancer by turning advocacy into individualized, easily marketable products and services that limit how we think about these issues and what we can do to solve them.

Chavie Lieber

What does it mean to even raise money for awareness? Other experts in breast cancer research have said that much of the money was simply reinvested in t-shirts and bracelets distributed during races.

Gabriel Olsen / Getty Images

Gayle Sulik

What does consciousness mean? We do not know. What I personally think is brand recognition: see a pink ribbon and know that it has to do with breast cancer. But that does not necessarily mean that money is credible, nor that it is for research or helping people.

Companies use the breast cancer brand and its association with the pink color to be sold to women during the awareness season. It's an intentional strategy to sell more products and build consumer loyalty. Consumers seem to like to support causes with their purchases.

Over the years, "pinkwasher" has become a term commonly used to describe the hypocrisy and lack of transparency that surround Breast Cancer Awareness Month and fundraising. It was invented by the Breast Cancer Action Group in response to growing concerns about the marketing of pink ribbon and the overabundance of pink ribbon products on the market. This has been going on since 2002.

Chavie Lieber

Do you think that all companies that make pink products do it for the wrong reasons?

Gayle Sulik

No, I think that overall, some people have good ideas and some companies want to give money. There are those who have good intentions. But in this industry, it's not about intentions; it's about following the money and seeing where it lands. I've seen companies become more specific, for example saying that they were raising money for a specific research project or helping someone to pay their medical bills. But because of the ubiquity of this situation, people are not trying to find out where the money is going. Now, there is this blurry message, and it's hard to find a meaningful campaign that actually seeks to do good things.

Chavie Lieber

In your research, what was the response of cancer survivors to this industry?

Gayle Sulik

I heard survivors say that they had the impression that businesses were taking money out of their suffering and their illness. This puts people angry because they are used for profit. These companies do not really care about the suffering of people; they care about advertising effects. I also found a chasm among treated women who have no evidence of illness and those for whom the cancer has returned and who are currently undergoing treatment until they die as a result of the disease. Anyone who does not fit the model of the brave and courageous breast cancer survivor does not have a lot of room in the pink industry.

Scott Cunningham / Getty Images

Chavie Lieber

So you think that this industry also objectifies women?

Gayle Sulik

Absolutely. The images of races, markets and products show a very specific type of woman. The difficult realities of cancer are much less acceptable for public consumption, and that's why a woman's look in the breast cancer awareness industry is sexualized.

Chavie Lieber

How is she sexualized, though? Does not this disease literally affect the breasts?

Gayle Sulik

No, it is a systemic cancer. What kills a person with cancer is not a breast disease; it's when it spreads to other organs. This is a major problem in breast cancer awareness because it's all about breasts.

The other thing is that you can talk about breasts by objectifying them. I have never seen in any disease-oriented campaign the amount of skin that is shown with breast cancers. There are tons of cleavage; women are still touching their breasts. Even serious subjects, like Time magazine covers, have this kind of images. The bodies and breasts of women are always the focal point. I think it's important to consider this disease as something that affects the whole body, not just focusing on the chest.

Chavie Lieber

Do you think this concept of shopping and spending on breast cancer has something to do with the fact that it is largely a woman's disease?

Gayle Sulik

Absolutely. I have seen some similarities with the "Movember" movement, which aims to raise public awareness of prostate cancer. There is an overlap, with a mustache and a ribbon, in the sense that people do not know what they are aware of. But in terms of quantity of product, it is not at all the same thing between men and women.

This is partly because women have consumed more of the type of products they market. Women, as a target group and niche group, are a driving force, especially when looking at what is selling the most, such as cosmetics, "for a cause". Even the NFL has become aware of breast cancer. Why? Because they wanted to increase the number of female football fans. When you start to separate the layers, the motivations of this industry become pretty clear.

Chavie Lieber

What can buyers do? Do you recommend avoiding all pink products?

Gayle Sulik

I would say that if there is a campaign, they should actually be looking for the organization in which the money is going. Look if the organization really exists, if it is named and if it is credible. If a product says it "supports breast cancer awareness" but is very vague, it's probably a red flag (or a pink flag!) And you should go away.

People should also try to find a schedule, because one of the major problems we see is that companies will give a percentage of sales of something until October 31, but the leftovers will be sold and their money will not be given . But overall, do your due diligence. There are no rules imposed by the federal government for the best practices of marketing campaigns, so it is up to consumers to hold businesses accountable.

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