Those pink ribbons

November 2, 2007 | 13 Comments

Last year we bought a pink iron from a chain home accessories store. Neither of us particularly likes that colour. It was October – Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The store was full of Pepto Bismol pink stuff with pink ribbon stickers. By purchasing these products, it was claimed, one could aid ‘the fight against breast cancer’ by supporting the Susan Komen foundation. This iron was among the most expensive – 10 dollars more than a similar one in another colour.

So what exactly was our purchase going to achieve? What are those pink ribbons about?

Hogwash, says Jeanne Sather @ The Assertive Cancer Patient. We’re better off donating the money directly to the relevant cancer research organisation rather than channeling it through a retailer who spends more for the marketing effort than the donation itself.

Check out
Boycott October
How Low Will Komen Go? and
Gag me With a Pink Ribbon

Last week, two fantastic bloggers lost their battles against cancer.

Rest In Peace, Lori Miller
(the Flickr support group founded by Lori).

Rest In Peace, Dina Rabinovitch
(Tribute in the Guardian).

We will miss you.

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13 Comments

  1. Srivalli says:

    Very true…at times it better to hand over money directly than these stuffs…thanks for the links..quite informative…

  2. sra says:

    Sad to know about the bloggers, Bee & Jai. I’d visited Lori’s site when you linked to it earlier. That was when she announced she’d gone into partial remission,I think.

  3. Rachna says:

    hmmmm but why is pink of all colours associated with breast cancer awareness month anyway???

  4. [...] indian vegetarian vegan food nutrition fitness travel jugalbandi blog wrote an interesting post today on Those pink ribbonsHere’s a quick excerptLast year we bought an iron from a chain home accessories store. It was October – Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The store was full of Pepto Bismol pink stuff with pink ribbon stickers. By purchasing these products, it was claimed, one could aid ‘the fight against breast cancer’ by supporting the Susan Komen foundation. This […] [...]

  5. indosungod says:

    Sorry for the loss! Thanks for posting on the topic.

    The Pink ribbons, Yellow ribbons, bother me, like when you slap one to your car, everything is all taken care of.

  6. Rajitha says:

    thnks for writing this…many a times i have been tempted to buy things i really did not particularly need just so that i could contribute…but from the past year i have been contributing for the awareness walk than buy something materialistic and unreasonable…

    my sympathies to the families of Lori and Dina..hope they find the strenght to deal with a profound loss….

  7. rahin says:

    May Lord give their families courage n patience n may Lori n Dina rest in peace – Amen

  8. kribha says:

    Sad to hear the loss. May their soul rest in peace. Also, I agree with you very much on donating directly rather than buying stuff that isin’t useful at all. Thanks for posting this.

  9. Our sympathies are with Lori and Dina- may God rest them in peace. We had a few cancer incidences in our family and we know how traumatic it can be to the person and his dear ones. Thanks for supporting such nobel causes through your wonderful blog!

  10. lakshmi says:

    exactly – and what’s with pink and breast cancer?!!! :hmm:

  11. Very touching Bee……..felt really bad after reading the post……May their souls rest in peace.

  12. Cynthia says:

    Thanks for always keeping us in the loop and reminding us… truly appreciated.

  13. A Reader says:

    Kudos to both of you, Bee and Jai for spreading awareness about breat cancer through your blog. I am 29, and I found that I have breast cancer on 2nd October this year. It was the worst shock of my life, as no one in my family has it, I am vegetarian, exercise (semi) regularly, and don’t smoke.
    It was detected early, so I had a lumpectomy, and the prognosis is quite good. Being an international student in a foreign country, made the experience even harder for me and my husband. But we are really grateful for all the great medical care I received here, and also the love of family and friends that helped us throughout.
    Please keep up the great work, and I would really appreciate your suggestions on how I can contribute to this effort.



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