MEET THE ADVOCATES
Alexis, diagnosed with breast cancer at age 28
“There's nothing wrong with the color pink. It's just another color, but at the end of the day, it’s about what it represents because imagery has power. So it’s about what the color pink represents and pink ribbons represent. The fact that companies use the concept of pain and the stories of breast cancer survivors without actually giving back, is really frustrating.”
Dana, diagnosed with breast cancer at age 27
“Breast cancer is not a holiday. Breast cancer is not a holiday like Halloween and Christmas and Memorial Day. Breast cancer happens every day of every year for every year that we've lived and every year that we will live. It's not a holiday. It should not be treated as such. And it should not be a promotional activity, period, end of story.”
Clara, diagnosed with breast cancer at age 36
“The hypocrisy to me is, don't pretend to be fighting alongside us when you're not really doing much of it. You're actually profiting off of our pain and off our struggle and that's just not cool. It's not.”
Trish, diagnosed with breast cancer at age 37
“I would say [to corporations and organizations] lead with your heart, do the best you can. But if it's an organization that makes billions of dollars, then seeing them say 3 percent of proceeds will go back to the cause then that just doesn't feel good to me. That would give me pause … I would put that item back on the shelf. Just kind of do a little mental math and also consider where it's going.”
Bianca, diagnosed with ovarian cancer at age 11 and breast cancer at age 22
“No one should be making a profit off of cancer. No one period. You should pay the actual patients and survivors and previvors and thrivers to work with you to spread awareness and to actually raise money for research and the community. And most of the time, if a hundred percent of the profits are actually going to research or the community, we would happily do it for free.”
Paige, preventative mastectomy at age 24
“I would say to a CEO and to the marketing team (of a pinkwashing campaign), we want your help and we appreciate your help. And we want to work together. Instead of coming to us when you've already created the campaign and you're just trying to plop in an organization, why don't you bring us into the process, into the creation, into the ideation?
Bri, preventative mastectomy at age 26
“When I see a pink washing campaign now, my first instinct is to roll my eyes and it does feel a little bit like someone's kind of punching you in the gut. It just feels like it doesn't matter what your story is, if this disease has changed your whole life, or if it has taken someone so close to you away. Companies now see this as marketing and as this shallow level of social awareness.”