For some breast cancer survivors, too much pink is bad

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Gail Lemberger was browsing through the Sunday advertisements when she started to notice a colorful trend.There were pink blenders, pink iPods, pink garden tools, pink vacuums. There were even pink coupons to purchase pink food items.October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the pink-tinged campaigns turned out in force.But with so many companies now promoting the cause, there is a concern that pink fatigue is settling in."I definitely would say it is oversaturated as far as products that are pink," said Lemberger, 49, a breast cancer survivor from Camarillo. "We definitely need to spread awareness, but I don't really think there is a need for that much pink stuff."Like Lemberger, many breast cancer patients and survivors have mixed emotions about the pink campaigns. They want to continue promoting awareness and raising money for the cause, but they worry about the potential for overkill and exploitation.Because the pink ribbon associated with breast cancer awareness is not trademarked or copyrighted, any company can place it on a product. And just because a product has a pink ribbon doesn't mean that proceeds from the sale benefit breast cancer. It could be used just to promote awareness.Pauli Ojea would like to think that every company has genuine motives but believes that it's more about increasing the bottom line than increasing awareness for some."Absolutely, this is to make money. Cause-related marketing works; that is why you do it," said Ojea, the community organizer for Breast Cancer Action, a breast cancer advocacy group based in San Francisco. "I am sure that there are people in the company who have very good intentions about breast cancer, but I also think that the primary reason they do this is to sell more products."Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among American women, who have a 1 in 8 chance of developing invasive breast cancer. An estimated 182,460 news cases will be diagnosed in the United States this year. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women.Breast Cancer Action started a "Think Before You Pink" campaign in 2002 that encourages transparency and accountability on the part of companies selling pink-ribbon products.The group urges consumers to research products to find out if any money is actually being donated to breast cancer."We were hearing from women who were calling our office and saying there were all these pink products out here and they felt like they were taking advantage of them to make a profit," Ojea said. "They didn't really know very much about what good it was doing."Charity Navigator can help consumers wade through the pink to find the products contributing to the cause.The independent charity evaluator assesses the financial health of the nation's largest charities and ranks them on a four-star scale.Breast cancer-specific charities such as Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the National Breast Cancer Foundation earned four-star ratings.The National Breast Cancer Foundation requires at least 10 percent of the net profit from sales of products with its logo to benefit breast cancer. Eighty percent of the funds are directed to programs to help increase breast cancer education and provide free mammograms.The Breast Cancer Research Foundation requires every corporate partner to fully disclose its donation to the public, and gives a minimum of 85 cents of every dollar donated to research and awareness programs."In this economy where writing a check may not be possible for many people, buying a product they might already need to support breast cancer is their way of donating that helps us all," said Robbie Franklin, director of marketing for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. "The reason there are so many products out there is because the public wants to give and be charitable."Lianne Ingalla of Thousand Oaks, Calif. doesn't mind a boost in sales for companies if it boosts awareness. Ingalla, 52, took only a passing interest in pink until she was diagnosed with breast cancer last spring."Just like with any charity, you have to spend your money wisely," she said. "I have tried to incorporate that into my thinking when I buy pink items. I can't say I do it 100 percent of the time because my selection is in part to increase visibility."But Maxine Mennen, 66, of Newbury Park, Calif., who was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago, wonders if the public might become desensitized to the meaning of pink if the color is used too broadly."Sometimes if you overdo something, people become used to it and don't pay as much attention to it," Mennen said. "If it is all around them all the time, I am afraid it loses its impact."There are signs that the power of pink could be fading.Four years ago, roughly 40 percent of women surveyed said they made an effort to buy pink ribbon products. In May, only 28 percent of women surveyed said the same thing.(Rhiannon Potkey is a reporter for the Ventura County Star in California.)