Pinkwashing in cause marketing
editKomen is a key entity in the controversy over pinkwashing. The term "pinkwashing" has been used to describe two different situations; 1) organizations getting disproportionately large amounts of publicity for donating very little, and 2) organizations that use the pink ribbon to promote products that may be cancer causing.
Donation Criticisms
editKomen benefits from corporate partnerships, receiving over $55 million a year[1] from 216 corporate sponsors.[2] However, critics say many of these promotions are deceptive to consumers and benefit the companies more than the charity.[3]
Some campaigns require that consumers mail proof of purchase for a promoted item before the manufacturer donates a few cents per purchase to charity; some have a cap on the maximum amount donated, with all sales beyond this fixed limit benefiting only the company, not the promoted cause.[4] Since their Save Lids to Save Lives campaign began in 1998, Yoplait has donated more than $25 million to Komen. In 2010 their annual maximum commitment was raised to $1.6 million.[5] In return, a major sponsor such as Yoplait obtains an exclusive contract; no other yogurt manufacturer (such as Dreyer's, who inquired in 2000) has the opportunity to use the branding.[6] In 2002, credit card operator American Express launched a "Charge for a Cure" campaign which claimed that "in the search for a cure, every dollar counts." The amount donated per qualifying transaction, regardless of purchase amount, was one penny.[7]
In 2006 Major League Baseball partnered with Koman by selling and donating amounts from pink MLB Louisville Slugger bats, pink baseballs, and necklaces sold. On mother's day, breast cancer survivors are eligible to be used as bat girls in games that pink bats are used. MLB is a $1.2 Billion industry, donates around $100,000 a year. [8] In 2012, WWE promoted breast cancer awareness by adorning their sets with pink ribbons with a pink middle rope on the ring, filming numerous PSAs and selling special John Cena "Rise Above Cancer" merchandise. A one million dollar donation from WWE was presented to Susan G. Komen representatives in an in-ring ceremony during the October 29, 2012 episode of Raw.[9] The amount of the donation during the campaign has been criticized as inconsequential for the WWE based on the amount made from moving the merchandise. The timing of the campaign preceded the 2012 U.S. Senate Elections, where WWE Chairman Vince McMahon’s wife Linda unsuccessfully ran for the seat of Connecticut as part of the Republican Party. [10]
Health Criticisms
edit
Several water bottle retailers have partnered with the Komen Foundation[11] [12]. Single use plastic water bottles commonly contain BPA, which has been linked to breast cancer tumor growth[13]. For the 2008 model year, the Ford Motor Company built a branded limited edition of 2500 Ford Mustang motorcars with a "Warriors in Pink" package[14] as part of their long-running association with Komen;[15] an additional 1000 were offered for 2009's model year.[16] A longitudinal study found that women employed in the automotive plastics industry are almost five times as likely to develop breast cancer, prior to menopause, as women in a control group.[17][18]
In April 2010, Komen paired with fast food restaurant chain KFC to offer "Buckets for the Cure," a promotion in which fried and grilled chicken was sold in pink branded buckets. The collaboration garnered criticism from media outlets including The Colbert Report[19] and Bitch magazine,[5] and raised criticisms about the promotion of unhealthy eating habits and obesity, since obesity itself contributes to breast cancer.[20] KFC contributed over $4.2 million to Komen, the largest single contribution in the organization's history.[21] The partnership with KFC, which has since ended, allowed Komen "to reach many millions of women that they had been unable to reach before," said Brinker.[1]
In April 2011, Komen introduced its own perfume brand, "Promise Me", promoted by Komen CEO Nancy Brinker on the Home Shopping Network,[22] only to encounter opposition due to coumarin, oxybenzone, toluene and galaxolide as potentially harmful ingredients. Komen stated its intention to have the product reformulated but has refused to withdraw existing stocks of the "Promise Me" product from distribution.[23]
- ^ a b Szabo, Liz (2010-09-29). "A 'Promise' spurred Susan G. Komen, breast cancer fight". USA Today.
- ^ Singer, Natasha (2011-10-15). "Welcome, Fans, to the Pinking of America". New York Times.
- ^ Stacie, Stukin (2006-10-08). "Pink Ribbon Promises". TIME. Retrieved 2007-04-23.
- ^ "Sick of pink". The Boston Globe. 2009-10-04. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
- ^ a b General Mills (2010-09-10). "Press Release: Yoplait Expands Commitment To Breast Cancer Cause By Raising The Bar For Support To Long-Time Partner Susan G. Komen For The Cure". Perishable News. Phoenix Media Network. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) Cite error: The named reference "GM" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ Orenstein, Susan (2003-02-01). "The Selling of Breast Cancer Is corporate America's love affair with a disease that kills 40,000 women a year good marketing--or bad medicine?". Business 2.0. CNN Money. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ No Family History: The Environmental Links to Breast Cancer, Sabrina McCormick, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, July 16, 2010 ISBN 978-0-7425-6409-1 page 52
- ^ Gambles, Sarah. "Are all the pink ribbons helping to cure cancer?". Deseret News. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- ^ Mon, September 17, 2012 12:50pm EDT by Russ Weakland (2012-09-17). "John Cena In Pink — WWE Breast Cancer Awareness Gear". Hollywood Life. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Boccabella, Dathen. "WWE: Looking Back at the 2012 Susan G. Komen for the Cure Partnership". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- ^ http://www.sparkletts.com/bottled-water-social-responsibility.jsf. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Real Water launches limited-edition pink bottle to support Susan G. Komen". Beverage Industry. September 24, 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- ^ University of Texas at Arlington (March 6, 2014). "BPA linked to breast cancer tumor growth". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- ^ By John Neff RSS feed Google+. "Ford reveals 2008 Mustang with Warriors in Pink package". Autoblog. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
{{cite web}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ "Jennifer Aniston, Ford 'Warriors in Pink' team up to fight breast cancer". Fox News. 2011-11-05. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
- ^ Capra Ovidiu (2008-03-19). "Ford Warriors In Pink Mustang". Zer Customs. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
- ^ Tuesday, June 11, 2013 12:39 PM EDT Facebook Twitter RSS (2012-11-19). "Auto plastics industry linked to breast cancer, new study shows". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
{{cite news}}:|author=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Study finds breast cancer risk for women in auto plastics factories". NBC News. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
- ^ "Scientists & KFC". The Colbert Report. Comedy Central. 2010-04-29. Retrieved 2011-04-27.
- ^ Black, Rosemary (2010-04-22). "Eat fried chicken for the cure? KFC's fundraiser with Susan G. Komen group raises some eyebrows". Daily News (New York). Retrieved 2010-09-01.
- ^ "KFC Presents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure® a Check for more than $4.2 Million: Single Largest Donation in Organization's History". Susan G. Komen for the Cure. 2010-08-24. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
- ^ Szabo, Liz (2010-07-00). "Komen's pink ribbons raise green, and questions". USA Today.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Weiss, Jeffrey (2011-10-06). "Dallas-based Komen for the Cure in a stink over perfume". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2011-03-08.