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Deceptive pink bits
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Promoting awareness about breast cancer is nothing to sniff at. Neither is raising millions of dollars for much needed research into a disease that has affected at least one person we know. But this week we’re giving the Wankley to products that pinkefy themselves with all sorts of glowing promises about their commitment to breast cancer research. Of course, corporate generosity doesn’t come free, and in most cases, if you care to track down the fine print (providing you have the inclination and a giant Magnifying glass that is, and who does?) it’s only then that your warm inner glow is snuffed by the companies’ commitment to deliver much less than they make out. It means companies like Mount Franklin tint their label a rosey hue, wrap themselves in the pink ribbon and top it off with a pink cap on bottles of water that fill the fridges of milk bars everywhere, but if consumers care to read the fine print while sucking down their filtered water, they’ll see that it says:
That’s nice and all, but it’s not much to pay for the goodwill and brand love that Coca Cola Amatil gets from buying a slice of pink. Sure, some products give you more bang for your pink buck, but in the spirit of reading the fine print, Crikey asked readers to keep a look out for the most egregious examples of pink washing. We asked you to name the companies and brands that you considered to be shamelessly attaching their name to the cause by painting themselves pink and promising token donations in exchange for a far larger slice of the (other) pink dollar. Crikey reader Margaret Bozik writes:
Jenny Morris writes:
Vivien Banks writes: The McGrath pink Visa card. Now you can spend irresponsibly and stop cancer at the same time?!? But the winner of the promised “selection of deep, dark, black Crikey merchandise” (that’d be a pair of sinister black socks with Kevin’s Rudd’s pets on them and a T-Shirt of her choosing), goes to Rhea Thrift:
View our complete Wankley winners’ archive |
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18 Comments
I really tried to find James Hardie Industries in the pinkwash, but failed.
What about connex cure cancer day. One dollar from every ticket sold on a Saturday to go to cancer charities. How much does the continuous advertising cost really?
When will cigarette packets turn pink?
Would it be a bit cheeky to suggest that the Breast Cancer research is not all that short of a bob or two compared to other cancers.
A bit more $$ thrown into Bowel C ancer screening would save lives right NOW through early intervention. No iffs- no butts
Save real lives.
But bowels and shit aren’t pretty pink.
Well, to avoid offending you all the answer is simple: let’s tell big business not to donate.
@Whom: Perhaps the Zune could contribute to bowel cancer then, they are the right colour.
http://www.amazon.com/Zune-Digital-Media-Player-Brown/dp/B000H0QDCC
Why is the McGrath pink Visa card being criticised? They donate half of the card’s annual fee to the McGrath Foundation. If I’m not mistaken, 50% is a pretty generous amount compared to what all the other big businesses donate. Plus it’s not like people are going to decide to get a credit card and rack up huge amounts of debt just because it’s associated with breast cancer support.
Like we need more credit cards. They’d need to get more than 12,500 people in to equal what Franklin’s water contribute. FAQ on the site doesn’t show how many.
Men need to get off their bums and get a similar thing going for prostate cancer research because as many men die from this in Australia each year as do women of breast cancer.
http://www.prostate.org.au/articleLive/pages/Prostate-Cancer-Statistics.html
@Meski
“Like we need more credit cards. They’d need to get more than 12,500 people in to equal what Franklin’s water contribute.”
Yes, how dare they offer a product and charge money for it.
Let’s force them to create an entirely different product and service and then force them to charge a set fee for it so that they can donate more money to medical research.
Dear GEF05
The way they could stop offending me is to donate for the good and not the PR. If the donation is formiddable enough then the PR will come. I believe the cynicism comes because the main aim of some of the passengers of the breast cancer initiative is to get good PR for their companies and not for the benefit of breast cancer.
In regards to the credit cards I would reply “how dare they use breast cancer to entrap people into using credit.” They are not simply offering a product but are using a charity to market their product.
@GEF05 - so it would be ok in your opinion to have a pink pokie machine promotion for this? Not a great deal of social difference between a pokie and a credit card, in the wrong hands.
Dear Heathdon,
“If the donation is formiddable enough then the PR will come.”
*slam dunk*
Thanks,
gef05
@ Meski
So, you want poker machines and credit cards banned from all use for everyone?
Interesting.
“The way they could stop offending me is to donate for the good and not the PR.”
Got a magical device for measuring the motives of CEOs, have you?
not magical just called common sense, if the advertising budget outstrips the donation.
@GEF … where did I say that? Or even imply it? I could equally say that you agree with advertising for tobacco to be brought back, it’s just as much a straw man argument as you are presenting.
@Dotty Daphon, the prostate foundation could help themselves by not encouraging barbecues and focusing on campaigns that aren’t associated with increased cancer risks http://network.nature.com/people/cobi/blog/2009/11/05/cancer-awareness-organisations-promoting-barbecues-are-irresponsible
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