By now you might be feeling like you have a bit of pink eye as everything is pink - pink ribbons, blenders, laptops, jewelry, beauty supplies, packaged food products, toilet paper as well as pink clothes, shoes, umbrellas and purses! The list is endless for all of the co-branded cause marketing efforts that are launched during the month of October to raise funding for breast cancer research as well as the revenue of major corporations. But is all this buying of pink merchandise really helping to find a cure for cancer? Is the awareness that it is intended to bring actually helping women prevent breast cancer?
One of the most well known of the breast cancer organizations is the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF). According to Charity Navigator, BCRF’s annual revenue for fiscal year 2006/2007 was $36,697,109 and in 2005 it was $25,978,985. Another well known breast cancer organization is Susan G. Komen which reported annual revenue of $274,875,945 for fiscal year 2007. It has been many years and millions of dollars have been invested in breast cancer research yet breast cancer is still the most common form of cancer in women aside from non-melanoma skin cancer. Breast cancer is also the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women following lung cancer (Center for Disease Control and Prevention).
For most women, an annual visit to the gynecologist for a complete physical examination, lab testing and a mammography, when
