Pinktober Revolution
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Pinkwashing is being called out is so many ways. Kiki, your friend put is well, people with BC are being used for commercial gain.
Good news from Australia. Our campaign to put a spot of blue on the pink ribbon has been accepted as a possibility by the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
The story is HERE.
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Hey Traveltext! Are you watching the rugbythis October? Im pretty sure the Wallabies have a good chance of winning this year.Was a very tough game against Scotland. (Part of me thinks they should have won it)
Yup this is pretty much a deviation from pinktober because rugby seems to be taken more seriously than cancer this month..... (unless of course you're in Northern America)
I think people shouldn't wear pink this month unless they have something valuable to offer. I spoke to a stores clerk who was wearing the traditional pink ribbon and asked her if she got screened or knew how to do a self exam, the answer to both questions is no. I asked her who is favourite to win the rugby world cup and she smiles broadly: why South Africa of course, but new New Zealand remains still a close contender.....
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Traveltext: impressive about the acknowledgement of the 1% of men who are diagnosed with bc.
Shar, I'm glad to hear that some of those not diagnosed with bc also see through all the pink marketing schemes. How smart of you to ask for your friend's take on Pinktober. I think it's important for us to speak up about it when we can. It we don't, the general public thinks everyone embraces it.
This paragraph in my letter to the editor was very important to me. I get sick of the "feel good because I bought something pink" mentality. I don't and I won't smile and get giddy over futile attempts at showing support. The bottom line is people need to be informed. I really, literally do not have time for crap: Another reality is that many companies only sell pink ribbon products to boost profits, giving little or no donation to reputable breast cancer organizations. Consumers buying pink items to show support should know how much money from their purchase is donated and verify that the organization receiving the money distributes it in ways that truly benefit those with breast cancer. Anything less has little meaning.
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Traveltext Great job. You are the face of change
Those were words spoken to us in nursing school. Great words.You are all the face of change.
Julie sometimes things inadvertently happen that turn out to be good things. You apologized about 800flowers b/c you did find they had a page. I had already written my 'concerns' b/c I could not find who they donated too. In my case the survey popped up almost immediately.
I started me thinking that one of our requests be that the donee be prominently displayed on their main web page. versus on page 6.
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I had an ad from Ashley Bridget (a jewelry company) on my Facebook feed, with a 'limited edition breast cancer support' bracelet. It was kinda cute, and I decided to look into it. I couldn't find anything on their webpage indicating how much money would be donated, or where, so I contacted them. This is email exchange that we had:
Me: As a breast cancer patient, I like the items you have for sale for breast cancer awareness. But before I spend my hard earned money on any of them, I need more information. How much money from each purchase is donated? Is it a certain percentage, or a set amount per item? Is there a cap on the total amount you will be donating?
Ashley Bridget: As much as I would like to answer your questions, unfortunately, I would not be able to disclose any information about it due to confidentiality and security reasons. Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me through email or you're welcome to call our support line at 1-(877)-724-0804. The phone line is open 8am-8pm EST on Monday to Friday, and 11:30am-8pm EST on Saturday and Sunday!
Me: Thank you for your reply. Because of your lack of transparency, I will not be purchasing anything from Ashley Bridget.
What???!!! "confidentiality and security reasons"????
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Rwiley what's the email? A few more emails and she may get the idea that it will hurt her to not be transparent.
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:-) Here you go! support@ashleybridget.com
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Traveltext- Well done! I am also impressed.
RWiley- also excellent. I am convinced that it's going to take several bashes over the head before most companies "get" this. Thanks for the link.
DivineMsM- your words read fresh to me every time I see them. One person at a time. One letter or email at a time. If there is any remote truth to the seven degrees of separation, and we all tell everyone we know, that's a start. The challenge is getting that next ring of people, the ones like Shar's friend, to realize that THEY are also being taken advantage of. I still sense a lack of outrage from people not directly affected. How do we get that next ring of people to express their distaste? To stop buying pink and thinking they've "done their bit"?
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email sent
If you think it has value C&P and use it "It has been made known to us that you are not transparent, about the money obtained in Pinktober.
Firstly, as Breast Cancer Survivors, we have learned that too many companies collect money, but choose organizations that are not as reputable as others. Worse yet companies collect money and keep it. Dastardly bad business.
Secondly, all Breast Cancer 501c3 charities aren't equal. Some are better than others. A way we measure the value of what a charity is doing is by using Charity Navigator(CN). CN does a complete evaluation of how the money is used. It identifies Administrative costs, and defines where the non administrative money is spent. Here is a link to Charity Navigator for your convenience.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
We respectfully, suggest you consider a charity that has a four star rating. We, also, suggest that your choice of charity be placed in an area of prominence on your opening web page. It adds legitimacy to your "pinking".
The Breast Cancer Community is very aware of the inappropriate use of Breast Cancer as a marketing tool. Our goal is to turn this around.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Sincerely, ___________
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Rwiley, your email may have done some good. I went to the Ashley Bridget site and found three bracelets connected to breast cancer awareness. At the bottom of each ones description it says that a pottion goes to the Breadt Cancer Foundation. Doesn't say anything about % or set amount so they do need to be more transparent in that respect
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This may have been posted before, but here it is again. The five chariities were outed by earlier this year. This is from an article that has a summary of the worst pink charities
Tuesday, Oct 20, 2015.
http://vitaminw.co/news/breast-cancer-scams-worst-charities-include-5-pink-ty
Cancer Fund of America/Breast Cancer Financial Assistance Fund
American Breast Cancer Foundation
Breast Cancer Relief Foundation
Woman to Woman Breast Cancer Foundation
United Breast Cancer Foundation
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Hmm, interesting that they only say Breast Cancer Foundation. Suspicious wording to say the least.
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Kathy what are you thinking?
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Many here have donated . Thank you !........Wandering around and cheerleading again
Donate today, make a difference directly in all our lives. By supporting BCO, we support each other. Thanks and Hugs
https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/110/topic/834331?page=1
Link to the mainboard donation page
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kathyindc,
I thought the same thing. When you look up "Breast Cancer Foundation" on Charity Navigator, you get the following items:
- American Breast Cancer Foundation = 1 star
- The Center for Building Hope = Donor Advisory
- National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc = 4 stars
- Susan G Komen for the Cure = 2 stars
- United Breast Cancer Foundation = 2 stars
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Sas,Rwiley, I sent them an email asking exactly which Breast Cancer Foundation they are supporting since one does not come up in Charity Navigator under the name they are using for their products. Also questioned them as to the transparency of the amount to be given. And to top it off, I let them know many of us do not like our disease used as a marketing tool.
Edited to add: Just got an email saying my request has been received and is being reviewed by their support staff.
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The initial response from Ashley Madison...oops, Ashley Bridget smells very suspiciously stinky. It's even laughable. It shows how uneducated and untrained and completely out of touch that person who wrote the response is. And the organization there're donating to sounds very vague. Things are not right there.
Jackie, I think it is up to us to just continue to plant the seeds of understanding that the focus must be on a cure. It is a slow, somewhat methodical process. When our ears or eyes pick up on someone who doesn't seem to understand, we should speak up and try to educate them on the facts. It is planting a garden of change. We do it respectfully and try not to grow weary in getting the word out.
Another way I look at it is we have to keep spelling out the message to the people we come across in the way Annie Sullivan continued time after time after time after time spelling words like w-a-t-e-r into the hand of Hellen Keller. At some point, the truth will dawn on these people. You have to keep at it. And you also have to be somewhat detached from how it all plays out because some things are not in our control. We always hope for the best.
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Divine- good words, sound advice. I will keep at it.
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Ramona, kudos for you for starting the jewelry company down a path towards transparency! If they really were donating, and claiming the tax deduction, I believe the information would be on the applicable non-profits tax forms, which are public. (You can get the state forms from your attorney general; indeed, I don't know about in other states but here in California you can search for and view the charity's forms online. See: https://oag.ca.gov/charities )
So, whose security? Their own because they won't even say where the money is going, so probably it goes right back into their own coffers? Yeah, smells funny to me too.
Octogirl
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it's been three hours since I heard from Ashley Bridget saying my email is being reviewed by there support staff. It will be interesting if they reply, and if they do, what they will say. Not holding my breath.
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Kathy I sent one too. I'll have to check to see if I got a response
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Kathy my email too them was in an earlier post. This is their response.
Jessica Smith (Ashley Bridget)
Oct 20, 12:57
Hi _______,
Thank you for reaching out to us with this information. I will definitely pass this information onto our product development team and marketing team so they can take this information into consideration when we decide which charity to donate the proceeds to.
We will be announcing the charity we are donating to.
Thank you,
Jessica Okorn
Customer Relations Manager
Ashleybridget.com
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Sas,
That's interesting because they had the generic Breast Cancer Foundation under each of the descriptions of the three bracelet when I asked exactly which one: American, National or United. I was a good hour after you with my question. Did mention only one received four stars from Charity Navigator. Thought I would let them do some research. Let's hope they are doing their homework.
Kathy
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Kathy, things are just stirred up. Not sure if anyone else emailed them. I did the pop up survey response and then a regular email. Companies doing damage control now. Fearful any more get sent or news gets involved.
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oh....WHEN they decide which charity it goes to?
A new, even lower standard of charlatinism. Collect now, decide/donate later. This stinks bad.
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I have been unsuccessful messaging Ashley Bridget so I posted the following on their FB page. I think this may sometimes get attention also because, at least until they take the comment down, other people ontheir page can and will see it:
"I am curious. This pink picture and your post imply this is a fundraising effort for breast cancer awareness? I don't see any details on what or how much or who you are donating to? Many companies seem to take consumers for idiots if all they have to do is slap some pink in something and we buy it. Please don't take advantage of breast cancer patients or victims, not to mention the rest of the intelligent public."
I'll keep trying to email in their website. It's after 8pm in NYC so maybe nobody will take it down until morning.
Anybody want to join me?
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Sure put up the link jackb
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I'm in NYC but leaving late afternoon Do you haves an address?
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hey guys,
Just saw the BC. Org ad on TV for the first time , they had a lot of good points about bras and deodorant and genetics.... But when they say 90 percent is not genetic then talk about eating healthily and exercising I'm not so nuts about that. What about those of us who have followed all those rules, don't have any genetic links, but still get breast cancer. I don't like feeling like people feel that we did something wrong to get this... Like we didn't eat our vegetables or something. I hear from enough random idiots about they're so "safe " because of all their flax oil and cottage cheese. How about shit just happens? How about check yourself monthly and if you're of the age get a mommy? I hate to be a pain in the ass about this but I'm just so tired of telling people that I was a vegan ( non soy eating) before I got this , and the time before that I was a vegetarian when they ask me why I got sick like it's my fault. I figured since it's Pinktober I can feel free to rant here.
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Sula- rant away. I know how you eat. I don't like even the suggestion of blame. It's delicate to make lifestyle suggestions without crossing that line. And it often does come across as a kind of smugness.
ETA- here us a link to my Facebook post referenced above. It would be great for them to have a bunch more comments when they get in in the morning!
https://www.facebook.com/ashleybridgetco
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