The Pink Ribbon

Everytime October rolls around, it seemed like retailers are rubbing their hands in glee. I hope I am not turning that cynical, but sometimes you do wonder if they are cashing in on the fact that it is Breast Cancer Awareness (BCA) month and pink ribbons will be everywhere and people will want to buy something that will contribute to the research/foundation/mammogram fund.

But I wonder if what they are doing it enough. 50 cents/10 cents donated to the fund for every bag of Pink M&Ms or Pink Wish Tim Tams? It doesn't seem like a lot, is it? This is just from the confectionery section. Then you have the big departmental stores getting into the act too. October will see Sears and The Bay advertising the products they have in support of BCA month. Slippers, towels, utensils, cutlery, brooch, tee shirt, hoodie, bag, cell phone charm, etc. Everything is in pink and all for a good cause.

Sometimes I wonder if people buy because they are really so cute and sweet being in pink or is it truly because they know that a portion (usually tiny) of what they bought will be donated to the BCA fund.

Cancer has become the #1 killer in recent years, overtaking heart disease. And most people would have known someone who is suffering, has suffered or has succumbed to it. In Wiki, breast cancer is the most common for females (32%) though lung cancer is the main killer (27%). My grandfather died of throat cancer in 1995. I was in Canada when it happened but from what I heard, it was pretty bad at the end, with a tube down the throat or stomach just to feed him. I know of an acquaintance who battled breast cancer and survived, but after undergoing countless chemo treatments. Not fun at all.

So maybe it is better to buy things which will at least donated a portion of sale to the BCA foundation rather than to buy things which do not at all. Plus, the items are usually pretty good too or things you would use.

You can check out the Breast Cancer Store. It does international shipping too. While the big conglomerates like Estee Lauder, Smashbox, Stila, KitchenAid, etc will come up with items to support BCA, there are still smaller stores doing their part in anyway they could to help the countless people who are battling breast cancer or trying to get people to go for mammogram. You just never know.

And yes, I bought the BCA pink ribbon pink quartz cell phone charm from Sears. My old charm dropped off, so it was timely to get one which will serve as a reminder.