Pinkwashing
As a charity dedicated to early detection for breast cancer we help companies contribute meaningful impact for breast cancer awareness. First we will talk about what “pinkwashing” is and how we partner with companies to use funds and their platform to save lives with our innovative global education programs that address health inequities.
“Pinkwashing” is a term used to describe profits or services that turn pink as part of their sales promotions but contribute little or nothing to the cause through charitable giving and don’t participate in customer and employee education. Here is an example of how a breast cancer awareness promotion would differ from a Valentine’s promotion:
Valentine’s: show hearts, use pink and red, talk about loving and honoring those you care about by giving them a particular product or service.
Breast cancer awareness: include a pink ribbon, honor those who have faced the disease, invite customers and employees to be part of improving early detection, by financially contributing to a breast cancer charity a meaningful portion of the sale of a particular product or service and use the company platform to actively educate.
Sometimes companies treat breast cancer awareness “month” the same way they do a holiday rather than a social cause. Here’s how we work with companies to create more meaningful impact and be part of the lifesaving work we do to educate to improve early detection:
Our partnerships include two components:
Become an active educator by partnering on educational initiatives to use the company's platform to help customers and employees be aware of the 12 signs of breast cancer, know their risk, and commit to screening so that more patients can be diagnosed in as early a stage as possible to save lives.
Financial contribution to our programs so we can educate year-round in over 30 languages worldwide and expand our reach
This first piece is what makes us unique as a breast cancer organization. By having an education solution that allows companies to be an active part in addressing awareness by partnering with us to promote breast health information, it’s not just a campaign to hand off money to a charity that will then use it to benefit a separate group of people.
The way we educate has such appeal because it is designed in a universal and inclusive way, so it communicates effectively no matter the audience. Because we don’t use breasts and use the visual metaphor of lemons, we can be incredibly detailed in teaching symptoms, and avoid censorship issues that prevent companies from taking part in the education aspect.
Incredibly our partnership has the dual benefit of helping the audience and employees of the company through social media collaborations, product inserts, email communications, employee education packages, webinars AND those who are outside the scope of the company through our year-round efforts.
Second, corporate giving has many possibilities, ranging from:
1. Customer donations though rounding up at the till or adding their own donation during checkout
2. Matching employee and customer donations up to a certain amount
3. Offering a portion of sales during a specific time period or for a specific SKU on an ongoing basis
4. Creating a new SKU that includes a flat donation for each sale
5. A specified tax-deductible company donation
6. In-kind donations that offer tangible support to the mission
With any breast cancer awareness promotion there are some things to consider to ensure messaging and the intention to make an impact are aligned and considerate of the patient community and charity’s efforts:
Plan any promotions with the partner charity well in advance. We can advise on ways to optimize company efforts and how to be authentic to your brand and anticipate potential issues. Options of educating and ways to tie messaging with the brand is a collaborative process.
Consider doing more than just October. Show customers your ongoing support by highlighting the cause a few times a year or having a year-round offering.
Go into the partnership with a long term view. It can be typical of companies to look at a charity partnership as a one-off event around a particular month or product launch, but having a view to working year-round and over the space of several years allows the relationship to grow and the impact to expand. For example, when we work with companies to be active educators, it’s common that a customer or employee will get diagnosed earlier and as a result their life was literally saved because of the partnership. The results of that won’t be apparent in a week or a month, so ongoing efforts and community building are important, even just simple check-ins can go a long way.
Be considerate of the hardship patients face not only in dealing with trauma, but how breast cancer awareness promotions can be triggering. We work with you on understanding common mistakes companies make, such as talking about patients as heroes who have “fought” the disease and won. Saying these things implies that those who died didn’t fight hard enough. Cancer doesn’t cure itself just because someone is more determined. While perseverance is a necessary part of facing a trial and it’s a trait that should be admired, cancer outcomes are largely based on factors entirely outside the patient’s control. Their fate is not entirely in their hands and they should not be the only determinate for their recovery or viewed as someone who is a war hero—cancer is not a battle they signed up for. They didn’t enlist, they weren’t trained, they are simply someone who was pushed into a turbulent sea and are trying to keep their heads above water while people from the side cheer and say, “Wow! You are such a great swimmer, I just admire you for what you are doing.” They are swimming to stay alive, and whether they have arms flailing or have an impressive breaststroke is not something to be judged on. Patients feel a lot of pressure to be that beautiful swimmer with a satin pink ribbon. Whether that’s when they are in active treatment, recovery, survivorship, or “thrivership” (for those who have a lifelong form of breast cancer), as a charity partner we help companies navigate these issues in a considerate way.
We understand our partnership requires a little more from companies to commit to both educate and financially support the cause, and therefore we might not be a fit for everyone. As our mission states, we are dedicated to educating and are eager to work with those who want to be an active part in saving lives and truly want to make a difference, raising the bar from “awareness” and pink ribbons to lifesaving education, with a twist of lemon.