Welcome to Pinktober

Every October we are inundated with cause-related marketing when a nefarious “pink tide” rolls over North American retail establishments. Product manufacturers, from vacuum cleaners to fast food producers to the cosmetics industry embellish their products with pink ribbons, promising to donate a small portion of their profits to research.  Ever since 1985 in a brilliant stroke of marketing virtuosity AstraZeneca (the manufacturer of carcinogenic petrochemicals and breast cancer drug Tamoxifen) originated Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Yet in spite of a growing industry of pink ribbon products and promotions, what has been done for women living with and at risk for breast cancer?

For almost 30 years now we get the multitudes of runs, hikes, walks and other fundraising events that raise hundreds of millions of dollars to conquer breast cancer. Nonetheless breast cancer statistics have not changed for the better in the past 30 years, on the contrary more women get breast cancer and even more women are at risk for breast cancer. In the 1920’s the incidence of breast cancer for a woman’s lifetime risk was one in twenty. Now it has skyrocketed to one in eight. Clearly the so-called war on breast cancer has not been effective as the rates of breast cancer continue to climb.

Did the alarming increase of breast cancer rates just mysteriously happen? Or, perhaps the focus on cure has conveniently ignored the cause? It is a well-known fact that the chemical and the pharmaceutical industry directly contribute to the breast cancer epidemic. However big pink sponsors like cosmetic giants continue to use carcinogenic plasticizers and other carcinogens in their products. Even alcohol purveyors have jumped on the pink ribbon wagon despite the fact that the connection between alcohol consumption and breast cancer has been long established. It is an undisputed fact that carcinogens in pesticides, herbicides, plastics and xeno-estrogens contribute to breast cancer – and yet, there is a deafening silence about all this by all Breast Cancer Awareness Month programs!

Is there something wrong with this picture? Or perhaps they are happy to take the money from the same industry that is causing cancer?

The PR spin-doctors for the Breast Cancer Awareness Month industry claim that breast cancer ‘is not a preventable disease’, thus shifting the focus from prevention to early detection with the use of mammography. But detecting breast cancer with mammography does not protect women from breast cancer! 

Billions of dollars have been spent on ‘awareness’ promoting screening and early detection; perhaps we should focus our resources on promoting prevention instead of fear. For a fraction of the cost of this ‘awareness’ campaign, we could get the message out that prevention is more preferable to detection.

If you care about addressing breast cancer in a meaningful way and wish to take action you should demand that the Cancer Industry stop pink washing and profiteering off this disease. Demand that the organizers be accountable and transparent in their fundraising. You should expect that the information presented should be evidence based and not paid for special interest groups. You should insist on the obvious, a simple respect women’s diversity and freedom of choice. I invite you to take a stand against the industry that is taking advantage of the goodwill of caring people.  Take a personal stand for health and prevention.