I have so many blog post ideas that constantly race through my head, that when I finally have time to sit and write one, it’s always a struggle to choose. Today I’ve chosen to brag on an organization that I’ve really fallen in love with.
The organization is Breast Cancer Action. They may not be as well known or have as fancy a website as the American Cancer Society (and Lord knows, their executive director doesn’t make over a million dollars annually like that of the ACS’s, ahem) but if I’m looking for common-sense, no-nonsense information about breast cancer (and essentially, not following the herd when it comes to ideas about cancer), this is where I go.
My favorite campaign of theirs is called Think Before You Pink, a much-needed initiative to help people become aware of the ways that corporations twist their marketing message to encourage sales by slapping pink ribbons on products. But as their website says, these products do much more to increase the company’s bottom line than to cure breast cancer.
They have several great articles on the Think Before You Pink website here.
I’m loving their latest attack on KFC. From BCA’s website:
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What the Cluck? Tell KFC and Susan G. Komen for the Cure to stop pinkwashing!
With their “Buckets for the Cure” campaign, KFC and Susan G. Komen for the Cure are telling us to buy buckets of unhealthy food to cure a disease that kills women. When a company purports to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink ribboned product, but manufactures products that are linked to the disease, we call that pinkwashing. Make no mistake–every pink bucket purchase will do more to benefit KFC’s bottom line than it will to cure breast cancer.
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What I like most about this organization–which is kind of a trend for me considering my views on healthcare–is that BCA focuses on the cause, rather than the effect. This is a concept completely lost on our entire healthcare system. The American Cancer Society and the government’s National Cancer Institute spend most their money on service and education after-the-fact. They seem to have no interest in figuring out what causes cancer in the first place.
But Breast Cancer Action takes a different approach, “challenging assumptions and inspires change to end the breast cancer epidemic.”
And unlike the ACS, they do not accept any funding from pharmaceutical companies, chemical manufacturers, health insurance organizations, or cancer treatment facilities.
Please check out their website and poke around. I think you’ll like what you see. And remember, THINK before you PINK!
Simply,
