Word: breasts
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Jarmoska is not alone in her suspicion. A growing number of breast-cancer activists and organizations have become concerned that the pink ribbon-- an emblem of breast-cancer awareness since 1992--has been hijacked for marketing purposes, a phenomenon that some call pink washing. Last year the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the nation's largest private charity focusing on breast cancer, urged consumers to start asking questions like how much of the money they spend on pink purchases will actually go to charity, what kind of activities does the charity support and what has its record been...
Donating by making a purchase is a "really seductive" idea, says Samantha King, a professor of health studies at Queens University in Kingston, Ont., and the author of a new book, Pink Ribbons, Inc.: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy (University of Minnesota; 157 pages). "People often say to me, 'I'm really busy, and this is something small I can do.' But the problem is, it's really not clear what kind of positive effect it's having overall...
...December. Komen would get a bigger donation if consumers simply donated the 39¢ it costs to buy each stamp, not to mention the fact that donors would have to polish off 100 yogurts to come up with a $10 contribution--a formula that surely enriches Yoplait more than the breast-cancer cause...
...other instances, companies put tight caps on their pink payouts. Last year, for instance, Cartier promised to donate $30,000 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation from the sales of its stylish pink-ribbon Roadster watch. But since the watch retails for $3,900, that's less than the price of eight watches. This year Cartier lowered the price to $3,800 and agreed to donate $200 for each watch sold but guaranteed only a $16,000 donation...
...charities like Komen, which raises about $30 million a year by working with pink-promotion partners. Clearly, it's better for corporations to give something than nothing, and these programs do make it easy for people to donate. "We're always looking for ways to engage consumers in the breast- cancer cause by capturing them where they live, work and play," says Cindy Schneible, Komen's vice president of resource development. "But what we began to see that was troubling were programs that didn't carry a transparent disclaimer. They would say a percentage of proceeds would benefit breast cancer...