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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBCAM: Why are Komen's pink ribbons on so many carcinogenic products?
Breast cancer giant Susan G. Komen has found its strangest bedfellow yet in one of the world's largest oilfield services corporations, Baker Hughes. The two have teamed up for a second year to distribute 1,000 pink drill bits to oil fields worldwide.
Each drill bit, which burrows thousands of feet underground to tap fossil fuel reservoirs, is "shipped to the drill site in a pink-topped container containing information packets with breast health facts, including breast cancer risk factors and screening tips," according to energy news site FuelFix.com.
These pink drill bits deliver not only barrels of oil, but also good PR and money: Baker Hughes gets to claim it cares about women's health, and Komen will receive a check from the Houston-based company for $100,000. The campaign has even come up with a cute tagline: "Doing their bit for a cure." But this partnership creates something far more insidious - a profit cycle whereby Komen raises millions of dollars each year to cure a disease that its corporate partner could be helping to cause. Baker Hughes' business includes hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process for extracting oil and gas using a mixture of water and chemicals, including known or possible carcinogens.
This is just the latest example of "pinkwashing" - when a company or organization claims to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink-ribbon product but at the same time manufactures or sells products that are linked to the disease. Pinkwashing publicity stunts serve one purpose: They generate public goodwill and profits for corporation and nonprofit alike.
http://www.newsday.com/opinion/oped/why-are-komen-s-pink-ribbons-on-so-many-carcinogenic-products-karuna-jaggar-1.9529132
MADem
(135,425 posts)Ask Planned Parenthood--they'll tell ya!!!!
Rhinodawg
(2,219 posts)840high
(17,196 posts)survivor - I do NOT give to Komen.
MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)and I imagine the poor woman, who died and gave her life and moniker to the outfit, is whirring in her crypt at what her craven, mendacious and avaricious sister has done in her name. Just the SALARIES the board takes are outrageous...give your money to those assholes, and you're buying facelifts, resort vacations, and designer duds for herself and her crew of miscreants!
If I have a dollar to spare, I'll shoot it over to Planned Parenthood. They don't waste their money on Big Board salaries.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Stargazer09
(2,132 posts)I used to support them, since Mom died of breast cancer. Once the truth of their wastefulness came out, I cut the ribbon for good.
I avoid buying anything that supports them whenever possible.
tooeyeten
(1,074 posts)Find poor women who need treatment and can't afford it, give anonymously to hospital or oncologist offices.
MADem
(135,425 posts)And they do everything that Komen said that they do, and MORE. Without judgment, either!!
Heather MC
(8,084 posts)La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)AngryOldDem
(14,061 posts)Because Komen has no scruples, nor ethics?
Because it's all about the money?
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)I would never donate to Komen.
NorthCarolina
(11,197 posts)MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)It's all about stuffing their corporate coffers.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)actually, the entertainment factor is about bring in the $, too.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)The American Cancer Society, or even Avon...don't give your money to help elect Republicans.
truebrit71
(20,805 posts)...
MADem
(135,425 posts)They do the same thing--cancer screenings, etc. And they don't waste their money on the administrative end.
Planned Parenthood, we all may recall, was the outfit that Komen stiffed for breast cancer screening funds over some poutrage that they actually helped people with reproductive advice and medical care. The nerve of them ... they had always diverted some of their money in the past, so that PP could do the screenings that they took credit for, but they wanted to get seriously political and they destroyed themselves with their own hubris.
Mayor Bloomberg, who is pro-choice and despite many boneheaded choices during his tenure did a good thing in this instance, wrote them a MASSIVE check--of course, to him it was like flipping a quarter to a newsboy in one of those forties pics..but still. And of course a shitload of people (myself included) sent a Fuck You Komen check to PP just because their goal was to cripple PP and drown it in a bathtub.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)I make it my business to never give one cent to those right wing theocratic bastards.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)The NRA isn't giving one dime to pro-gun Dems...wake up and smell the coffee
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)They created the "Think Before You Pink" campaign. Their focus is on causes and treatment.
http://www.bcaction.org
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)Lots out there who do good work...money better spent.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)because it's seen by them as an "older woman" disease - it's something you might expect mom, or your wife to come down with. On the other hand, cervical cancer is what 'those young hussies" get, according to the apparent logic, and so Republicans oppose HPV vaccines and the like.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)blm
(113,020 posts)of their industries and firms.
LondonReign2
(5,213 posts)End of story
mountain grammy
(26,601 posts)Rhinodawg
(2,219 posts)closeupready
(29,503 posts)Autumn
(44,986 posts)nothing more.
JEB
(4,748 posts)Exploitation of cancer survivors and victims. Disgusting organization.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)what the oilfield workers are saying upon receiving these drill bit packages, either...
KT2000
(20,568 posts)and direct research away from environmental causes - CORPORATE PROFITS ARE SAFE!
byronius
(7,391 posts)Rhinodawg
(2,219 posts)all my sentiments exactly.
Man from Pickens
(1,713 posts)or could, if they weren't so busy suing tiny non-profits that are trying to deal with other diseases and dare to use the phrase "for the cure". Of all the things that Komen does, that has to be the single worst.
Rhinodawg
(2,219 posts)its tough to pick.
blackcrowflies
(207 posts)or even pink, which now nauseates me.
In an ideal world, the Komen directors would be in jail.
I don't know anything about Susan Komen's character, just that she was an actress of my vintage. If she was a decent person, she must be waiting near the gates of hell to toss her sister in. Well, maybe not, she is her sister, but she must be ashamed of her.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)tclambert
(11,085 posts)And thereby have restored their virtue. Yay!
See, it's like if you murdered a dozen hookers, went to confession and admitted it, and the priest made you say a LOT of Hail Marys, then you're cool with God again. Well, until you murder another hooker. You probably ought to stop doing that, too. And the oil companies won't stop committing their evils, either, because PROFIT!
And Dick Cheney may have screwed the country and obviously hates the American people, but he wears a flag pin, so you cannot doubt his patriotism, which used to mean "love of country" but now just means wearing a flag pin.
spanone
(135,795 posts)Erose999
(5,624 posts)Mass
(27,315 posts)as are so many "charitable" organizations these days.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)Rhinodawg
(2,219 posts)and how much goes into their pockets?
AngryOldDem
(14,061 posts)You'd think that kind of info would be readily available, and transparent. I found no source that I thought was trustworthy.
That says something.
Pennie109
(128 posts)She likes to go to their survivor lunches for the free goodies they give out. She wanted me to go with her but I can't tolerate that organization.
I work for a local hospital who sponsor race/walks by Komen but I don't participate anymore. I'd rather support the Heart Association or local charities where I know were the money goes.
lark
(23,070 posts)They lost my support when they came out against Planned Parenthood a few years ago. No more pink ribbons, bracelets, hats for me.
The American Cancer Society is the real deal and provides great resources for people dealing with this diseases. Love them!
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)Iwillnevergiveup
(9,298 posts)the NFL has had its' headaches and egregious publicity, I think if all the teams STOPPED promoting "pinkness," it would go a long way to shutting down this scammer. She and Palin are cut from the same cloth.
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)If Komen holds events in your town or city (whether it be the "race for the cure" or sports teams wearing pink or handing out pink sports tchotchke), use the "Think Before You Pink" info on Breast Cancer Action to shut them down.
http://www.bcaction.org
Sparhawk60
(359 posts)They will slap their logo on any thing, as long as the check clears.
Response to Rhinodawg (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
Schmice2
(20 posts)rocktivity
(44,572 posts)on my New Jersey health blog. I thank the drill bit story for pushing me in the right direction.
http://yourhhrsnews.com/breast-cancer-awareness-month-think-before-you-pink
...Here are some breast cancer organizations that do not engage in pinkwashing: Claiming to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink ribbon product, but at the same time producing, manufacturing or marketing products or misinformation that are linked to the disease. Help them continue to help others with their communication of accurate information and practical support for the sake of both research and patient care.
rocktivity
otohara
(24,135 posts)and apparently SGK was going to reformulate it... but I can't find where they did or did not.
I'm thinking not, otherwise it would be out there on the interweb