# Is the pink for October era over? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 6, 2019, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360 "2019-10-06T18:07:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/1 "2019-10-06T18:07:47Z")
Back in June, many major companies added a rainbow flag to their logo on social media as well as flying the Pride flag. Now, it is October which usually overwhelms you with endless pink. And yet, until today, I haven’t seen any of it. The Washington Redskins have their app with a pink background and there are a few pink ribbons on the field as well as the end zones in pink. I’ve spent all weekend in the state capital of Illinois, Springfield, and haven’t seen any pink at all and I’ve walked by numerous government buildings including the state capital building. I also haven’t seen any pink in the Chicago Loop. I haven’t seen a single company logo include the pink ribbon on Facebook and Twitter either. Was there enough backlash against the non stop Pink for October and breast cancer awareness’ that the trend has finally ended? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/2 "2019-10-06T18:16:34Z")
I didn’t know that it was pink awareness month but just last morning I did see a Komen display at the 7-11. Interestingly what they were selling was not pink nor did I see the words “for the cure” from a cursory glance at the display. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/3 "2019-10-06T18:43:57Z")
Why would there be a backlash against breast cancer awareness and research? And what would that have to do with rainbow pride flags? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/4 "2019-10-06T18:44:28Z")
There’s plenty around, but I rejoice in the decrease, as well as the dwindling of smarmy infuriating “save the tatas!” “stuff the bra!” glurge. Everyone should stop buying pink water bottles with cute slogans (the producers of which typically donate 10%-0% to anything related to breast cancer care or research) and donate the damn money to metastatic cancer research. ETA: Not backlash, which is too bad. Maybe they’re not making enough money to continue exploiting people with breast cancer and their supporters. Most of the pink shit has no relationship to funding breast cancer efforts. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/5 "2019-10-06T18:54:30Z")
This week, the set was all awash in pink on Good Morning America. They were certainly doing their part to spread awareness about breast cancer. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/6 "2019-10-06T19:07:18Z")
I’ve corresponded with some of the women who were there as survivors. Their feelings about how it went were decidedly mixed. Here are some resources on pinkwashing: [https://breastcancerconsortium.net/resources/topics/pinkwashing/](https://breastcancerconsortium.net/resources/topics/pinkwashing/) > **[Breast cancer awareness products profit off survivors’ suffering](https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/10/17/17989624/pinkwashing-breast-cancer-awareness-products-profit)** > > An expert explains how Breast Cancer Awareness Month became a pink shopping bonanza. > **[4 Questions Before You Buy Pink - Breast Cancer Action](https://www.bcaction.org/about-think-before-you-pink/resources/4-questions-before-you-buy-pink/)** > **[The Harm of Pinkwashing | METAvivor](https://www.metavivor.org/blog/the-harm-of-pinkwashing/)** > > METAvivor is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing awareness of advanced breast cancer and equity in research and patient support. > **[A Growing Disenchantment With October ‘Pinkification’ (Published 2015)](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/31/health/breast-cancer-awareness-pink.html)** > > Some women with cancer and others question the worth of all that pink merchandise for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. More than awareness, they say, they want action. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/7 "2019-10-06T20:43:35Z")
My impression is that Komen was the driving force behind this movement, and the organization lost a lot of credibility and support in the Planned Parenthood debacle in 2012 and still has not recovered from it. Although I flew on Delta yesterday and one of the flight attendants was wearing an all pink outfit. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/8 "2019-10-06T20:51:33Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > …Although I flew on Delta yesterday and one of the flight attendants was wearing an all pink outfit. Wow! Even his _shoes_ were pink? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/9 "2019-10-06T21:31:55Z")
> [@](#): > > The idea for a pink ribbon, which soon led to extending pink to anything and everything, began 25 years ago with a 68-year-old California woman, Charlotte Haley, whose sister, daughter and granddaughter had had breast cancer. Ribbons had by this time become a popular symbol of other causes — the AIDS red ribbon, for instance, and the yellow ones to remember hostages. Mrs. Haley decided to make her own peach-colored ribbon to draw attention to what she felt was paltry funding for breast cancer research. > > Companies like Estee Lauder and Avon and organizations like the Susan G. Komen Foundation quickly realized that ribbons for breast cancer could be a powerful symbol. They substituted pink ribbons for Mrs. Haley’s peach ones. > **[A Growing Disenchantment With October ‘Pinkification’ (Published 2015)](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/31/health/breast-cancer-awareness-pink.html)** > > Some women with cancer and others question the worth of all that pink merchandise for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. More than awareness, they say, they want action. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/10 "2019-10-06T22:41:52Z")
Oh yeahhhh. Huh, you’re right, there hasn’t been the usual onslaught of goddamn pink everywhere. Always ground my gears so I rejoice at its diminishment. Also, fuck Komen. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/11 "2019-10-06T22:52:08Z")
The whole thing was about awareness of breast cancer, and everybody’s aware. Familiarity breeds contempt. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/12 "2019-10-07T14:47:55Z")
I noticed two or three women with shirts like “Pink for October” or “Think Pink” that made me say “Oh, hey, is that this month?” but no onslaught. Oh, and constant Facebook ads for a local demolition derby and “Racin’ For Boobs!!!” :rolleyes: I’m on the “Fuck Komen” wagon though so the less of it I see, the better. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/13 "2019-10-07T17:30:42Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Why would there be a backlash against breast cancer awareness and research? And what would that have to do with rainbow pride flags? From about 2004-2014, you couldn’t avoid the endless pink. Watch an NFL game and it looked like every player had puked a Peptol Bismol all over his uniform. Oh, by the way, they sold pink jerseys in the team store. It became impossible to avoid seeing a pink ribbon slapped onto everything, I swear there was a pink ribbon on packages of toilet paper. ‘Let’s defecate for the cure!’ And, as social media became more prominent, every company would add a pink ribbon to their logo on social media. Here’s an example from this year > Anyway, it became a huge marketing thing with almost no money actually going to breast cancer. And, quite frankly, it really wasn’t an issue which needed more ‘awareness’ ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/14 "2019-10-07T18:10:26Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > From about 2004-2014, you couldn’t avoid the endless pink. Watch an NFL game and it looked like every player had puked a Peptol Bismol all over his uniform. Oh, by the way, they sold pink jerseys in the team store. It became impossible to avoid seeing a pink ribbon slapped onto everything, I swear there was a pink ribbon on packages of toilet paper. ‘Let’s defecate for the cure!’ And, as social media became more prominent, every company would add a pink ribbon to their logo on social media. Here’s an example from this year > > [https://mobile.twitter.com/redskins/status/1181252899495530496](https://mobile.twitter.com/redskins/status/1181252899495530496) > Anyway, it became a huge marketing thing with almost no money actually going to breast cancer. And, quite frankly, it really wasn’t an issue which needed more ‘awareness’ Big thing there is 2 years ago the NFL switched to “Crucial Catch” for October, covering all cancers (I believe each team gets to choose what they want to raise awareness for). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/15 "2019-10-07T19:06:18Z")
As a breast cancer survivor who was diagnosed in October 2017, I say hurrah for the less pink crap. The Komen Foundation is not what many people think it is, and if you want to help people with breast cancer, donate to your local hospital, Gilda’s Club, or free clinic if you have one. Barbara Ehrenreich has said that for her, the “Breast Cancer Bear” was pretty much the most demeaning thing she’d ever witnessed, and that was about 20 years ago. [http://barbaraehrenreich.com/cancerland/](http://barbaraehrenreich.com/cancerland/) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/16 "2019-10-09T15:58:26Z")
I fail to see the catalyst for angst. If these types of campaigns drive you to anger, maybe the problem is with you. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/17 "2019-10-09T16:07:11Z")
I remember when nobody could talk about “breast cancer” because both “breat” and “cancer” would considered naughty words. Betty Ford SHOCKED the nation by talking openly about her breast cancer in 1974. Someone donated a lot of books to our local library, and put them in a pink ribbon plastic tote, which I am currently using. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/18 "2019-10-09T16:08:26Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Was there enough backlash against the non stop Pink for October and breast cancer awareness’ that the trend has finally ended? Not at all, it’s just moving into other areas. Like [video](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1068290/Euro_Truck_Simulator_2__Pink_Ribbon_Charity_Pack/) [games](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1162160/American_Truck_Simulator__Pink_Ribbon_Charity_Pack/). ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/19 "2019-10-09T16:27:24Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I fail to see the catalyst for angst. If these types of campaigns drive you to anger, maybe the problem is with you. Or it’s with your admitted failure to see and the problem is with you? Maybe read a couple of those “pink washing” links above. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360/20 "2019-10-09T17:11:08Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I fail to see the catalyst for angst. If these types of campaigns drive you to anger, maybe the problem is with you. Less “anger” more “recognizing the commercialism for what it is”. I’m not mad, just disappointed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pink-for-october-era-over/841360.md?page=2)