Before You Buy Pink This Month...
I am all for raising awareness for breast cancer throughout the year, not just in October. But, this month our store displays and aisles turn a little more pink, in light of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You can't help but to pick up a ton of pink merchandise this time of year! But, after a trip to my local retailer today, I was in shock of all the pink products that they had available this year. Pink soup cans, pink candy, pink t-shirts, pink watches, and even pink breast cancer awareness undies were among the offering. Once I reached the cereal aisle, I had to wonder if my favorite leprachaun would be featuring pink ribbon marshmallows amongst clovers and rainbows this month! (Sadly, no, but someone really should mention it to the cereal maker!
I did spy a cute pink ribbon keychain. I noticed the tag read "portions of this purchases to benefit breast cancer research". No organization was mentioned or how much of my purchase would be going to help out with research. Hmmm. being the savvy consumer that I am, I put the keychain back on the shelf. For all I know, some random, for profit, phony breast cancer organization could be getting the proceeds of my purchase.
Soon, I found myself picking up other pink items and realizing that many of them did not even claim to donate proceeds to an organization! Some of them did, but I had never heard of the organization. So, before you "go pink" this month, make sure you know where and how much of the proceeds are going to a legitimate breast cancer orgnaization. Or if you really want to help, make a direct donation to an organization of your choice, like the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
