50 Shades Of Pink
It’s October, aka Pinktober, which you may have noticed if you’ve so much as walked into a grocery store and found the Entenmann’s cake turned pink.
Pink ribbon season is upon us, and in case you’re understandably desensitized to its near meaningless ubiquity, it symbolizes breast cancer awareness.
But what does that word “awareness” mean in the context of a product repackaged pink for this insidious disease? Do you ever walk away from a pink purchase feeling more informed about breast cancer or confident your money actually makes an impact on the quarter of a million women diagnosed each year?
If anything, pink ribbons raise more questions than awareness, and in asking you’ll learn the sad reality that some of the biggest corporations paint themselves pink to boost their bottom line (this egregious practice is called pinkwashing).
See Reebok, who in 2010 released a line of pink emblazoned apparel but capped their donation limit at $750,000, regardless of how many pink items sold. Or read up on the black history of the pink ribbon, which was hijacked by Estée Lauder from the original peach ribbon started by grassroots activist Charlotte Haley that focused on prevention and political action — all for corporate gain.
So here’s the T…
Not all shades of pink are created equal, and let’s just say some are shadier than others.
And while I’m all in favor of supporting a cause, I want to do so in a way that educates; going beyond awareness which in this case, really only translates to “I’m aware you’ve changed colors for the month.”
That’s why Molly T. is taking a less pink, more think approach.
I’m challenging my amazing customers to do a little pink homework of their own before getting a gold star in the form of a 20% discount. Plus, we’re donating 20% of proceeds to Breast Cancer Action so that they can keep their David poise in taking down the Goliath companies that profit from or contribute to breast cancer.
Remember to #thinkbeforeyoupink -- and not just this October but every month in between.
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