Behind Designer Rose-Tinted Glasses...
I'm feeling nauseous... NO! Don't pass me the Pepto! I'm already overdosing as it is!
Pink.
It's everywhere. Pink.
It doesn't matter where you are, you will be bombarded by the colour.
It's called Breast Cancer Awareness. Maybe you've heard of it? If you haven't, you've certainly seen the tell-tale colour. It seems that now, expert marketing strategies include changing the colour of something and adding the word "Breast" to it.
It all started with the ribbon campaigns. Much like a Poppy on Remembrance Day, or a MADD ribbon on your car's antenna, different coloured ribbons started getting worn to show support for some sort of cause.
RED: AIDS Awareness
BLUE: Anti-Child Abuse, Anti-Smoking
YELLOW: Waiting the return of a Troop, Suicide Awareness, Testicular Cancer Awareness, Endometriosis Awareness
GREEN: Agriculture, Cannabis Liberation, Environmental Justice, Organ Donation, Celiac Disease, Bipolar Disorder (to name a few)
And the colour codes don't stop there! I'm not even going to get into the bullshit wrist band campaigns...
But I digress
PINK
It's making me insane in the membrane! It's everywhere, and not just on people's coats and cars. I saw a girl the other day with a pink ribbon tattoo on her wrist. A big one too! The Pink has become a fashion trend, so much so, that it's become clear that the corporate agenda is to get as much as they can from the debilitating disease.
Products are swamping store shelves with everything from articles of clothing, cooking appliances, food, make-up, beauty products, sporting goods, office supplies, frozen dinners, Barbies, yoga mats, body fat scales, vitamins, key chains, chap sticks, automatic toothbrushes, mobile phones, wines, vacuums, memory sticks, stuffed animals, Cruise Tours, M&M's, and it doesn't stop there...
Now giant automotive companies are creating "Special Edition" automobiles with the pink crest.
Ford, BMW, and Mercedes are some of the companies involved in this.
Now, don't get me wrong, I think it's a great cause to support. As far as Canadian Breast Cancer Statistics go, One in 9 women will develop breast cancer in their lives, and one in 28 will die from it. Not only that, in 2008, it is estimated that 170 men will develop Breast Cancer and 50 will die from it.
So clearly, this is an issue that hits close to home. But with the world wearing rose-tinted glasses, is it possible that we're forgetting about some of the lesser known, but equally as deadly illnesses?
Cancers, for example:
There's Lung Cancer - the leading cause of cancer among men and women.
Colorectal Cancer - the second leading cause of cancer among men and women.
Prostate Cancer
Ovarian Cancer
Cancer of the Thyroid
Cancer of the Stomach
Cancer of the Throat
Cancer of the Intestines
Of the liver
Of the kidneys
Of the mouth
Of the skin
Of the brain
Of the feet
Of the ears...
Basically, any where you have a body part, you could likely develop cancer from it.
So? Where's my merch? Where are all the ribbons for these cancers? I want Puce Green golf club cozies because I support Intestinal Cancer Awareness. What about a baby blue lap top carrier because I support Prostate Cancer Research? Who needs a pink ribbon bra, when they've got no breasts? I'm going for the brown ribbon certified lean cuisines, because lets face it: I'll always have an asshole.
Breast Cancer Research receives significantly more support than most of these other cancer researches combined. I'm not saying the cause isn't noble. I'm not saying it's inefficient to be aware and supportive. I just think that maybe we, as ConsumersWhores, have lost touch with what Cancer is all about: Shattered Spirits. Shattered Lives. Fear, and often times death.
Pink.
It's everywhere. Pink.
It doesn't matter where you are, you will be bombarded by the colour.
It's called Breast Cancer Awareness. Maybe you've heard of it? If you haven't, you've certainly seen the tell-tale colour. It seems that now, expert marketing strategies include changing the colour of something and adding the word "Breast" to it.
It all started with the ribbon campaigns. Much like a Poppy on Remembrance Day, or a MADD ribbon on your car's antenna, different coloured ribbons started getting worn to show support for some sort of cause.
RED: AIDS Awareness
BLUE: Anti-Child Abuse, Anti-Smoking
YELLOW: Waiting the return of a Troop, Suicide Awareness, Testicular Cancer Awareness, Endometriosis Awareness
GREEN: Agriculture, Cannabis Liberation, Environmental Justice, Organ Donation, Celiac Disease, Bipolar Disorder (to name a few)
And the colour codes don't stop there! I'm not even going to get into the bullshit wrist band campaigns...
But I digress
PINK
It's making me insane in the membrane! It's everywhere, and not just on people's coats and cars. I saw a girl the other day with a pink ribbon tattoo on her wrist. A big one too! The Pink has become a fashion trend, so much so, that it's become clear that the corporate agenda is to get as much as they can from the debilitating disease.
Products are swamping store shelves with everything from articles of clothing, cooking appliances, food, make-up, beauty products, sporting goods, office supplies, frozen dinners, Barbies, yoga mats, body fat scales, vitamins, key chains, chap sticks, automatic toothbrushes, mobile phones, wines, vacuums, memory sticks, stuffed animals, Cruise Tours, M&M's, and it doesn't stop there...
Now giant automotive companies are creating "Special Edition" automobiles with the pink crest.
Ford, BMW, and Mercedes are some of the companies involved in this.
Now, don't get me wrong, I think it's a great cause to support. As far as Canadian Breast Cancer Statistics go, One in 9 women will develop breast cancer in their lives, and one in 28 will die from it. Not only that, in 2008, it is estimated that 170 men will develop Breast Cancer and 50 will die from it.
So clearly, this is an issue that hits close to home. But with the world wearing rose-tinted glasses, is it possible that we're forgetting about some of the lesser known, but equally as deadly illnesses?
Cancers, for example:
There's Lung Cancer - the leading cause of cancer among men and women.
Colorectal Cancer - the second leading cause of cancer among men and women.
Prostate Cancer
Ovarian Cancer
Cancer of the Thyroid
Cancer of the Stomach
Cancer of the Throat
Cancer of the Intestines
Of the liver
Of the kidneys
Of the mouth
Of the skin
Of the brain
Of the feet
Of the ears...
Basically, any where you have a body part, you could likely develop cancer from it.
So? Where's my merch? Where are all the ribbons for these cancers? I want Puce Green golf club cozies because I support Intestinal Cancer Awareness. What about a baby blue lap top carrier because I support Prostate Cancer Research? Who needs a pink ribbon bra, when they've got no breasts? I'm going for the brown ribbon certified lean cuisines, because lets face it: I'll always have an asshole.
Breast Cancer Research receives significantly more support than most of these other cancer researches combined. I'm not saying the cause isn't noble. I'm not saying it's inefficient to be aware and supportive. I just think that maybe we, as Consumers
Maybe we should stop colour coding our body's decline and focus more on making a change rather than selling change.
Comments
And as much talk as there has been about the rise of "Pink", there's been just as much anti-Pink stuff coming out. Saw a guy wearing a "Not Another Breast Cancer Fundraiser" t-shirts, which was a shirt for a prostate cancer event. Which is sad because breast cancer and prostate cancer are linked as they are both hormone based cancers that are caused by the same things. But the rise of PINK has people going the other way and turning it into a conflict.
So as much as I agree with you on the fact that Breast Cancer is taking the stage and hogging the spotlight, the same was said about AIDS in the 1980s-1990s. AIDS research was all the rage, people were raising money for it everywhere, benefits were being done, etc. And mostly it was because AIDS was finally coming out of the closet, so to speak.
And truthfully, it hasn't always been that cool to talk about breast cancer. Although that seems surprising now because it's EVERYWHERE, we need to realize that it was pretty taboo until fairly recently. We're talking about titties for Christ sake!
And like I said, people have been bringing up various reasons for its popularity as of late, including the fact that it makes for great t-shirts (Have you seen the SAVE THE TATAS shirts?) and because it brings up issues of motherhood and "Why not raise money for your mom/grandmother?" and all that jazz.
But the truth is that breast cancer's popularity will fade and the corporate whores will come out with something new and flashy and all the money, research and events will go towards that. That's what happened with AIDS.
But I agree with you and One of Freedom that what we really need is to start focusing on prevention, the environmental impacts and really, the connections between all cancers.