Breast cancer is the poster child of corporate cause-marketing campaigns: companies try to reinforce their image and boost their bottom line by connecting themselves with the cause. Several companies do this while simultaneously making products that contribute to the disease—a practice BCA has dubbed “pinkwashing.”
Here is a sample of some of the more problematic "pinkwashing" promotions taking place this fall:
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In 1997, BMW launched the BMW Ultimate Drive campaign to encourage potential customers to test drive its vehicles “for the battle against breast cancer.” For each mile anyone test-drives a BMW from retail outlets in cities across the U.S., BMW donates $1 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The campaign encourages people to “get behind the wheel of a new BMW vehicle” for breast cancer, yet chemicals in car exhaust are established links to the disease. |
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In 2007, Estee Lauder will donate $500,000 from the sales of its Pink Ribbon Collection of cosmetics to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in an effort to raise awareness about breast cancer. Meanwhile, the company refuses to sign the Compact for Safe Cosmetics to ensure that its products do not contain chemicals that are known or strongly suspected of contributing to the disease. Currently, Estee Lauder products still contain parabens, a class of chemicals linked to breast cancer. | |
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Yoplait’s fall campaign, Save Lids to Save Lives, continues to urge consumers to buy pink-lidded cups of Yoplait yogurt. For each pink lid mailed back to the company by December 31, Yoplait donates ten cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, up to $1.5 million. Sadly, a woman would have to eat three containers of Yoplait every day during the four-month campaign to raise $36 for the cause–and the yogurt is made from cows treated with rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone). Recent studies show that rBGH dairy products may be linked with an increased risk of breast, colon, and prostate cancer. |