Posted on August 19, 2021

By Jayla Burton, Program Manager

Breast Cancer Action was the first to call out the deception of pink ribbon marketing and culture through our Think Before You Pink® campaign.

Over the years, we have had both grassroots and large-scale systemic impact which is apparent in our community of activists who continue to expose the hypocrisy of pinkwashing, leading to the success of previous campaigns.

At the beginning of the summer, six high school juniors from North Carolina, inspired by our Think Before You Pink® campaign and outraged by the hypocrisy, called on Estée Lauder and Becca Cosmetics to stop their sale of pink ribbon products that could potentially increase the risk of breast cancer. Check out our blog to see the story of how these high school students mobilize their peers to call out a major pinkwasher.

Over this last year, we have continued our efforts that began with our 2020 Think Before You Pink campaign®, We Can’t Be Pink’d. We called out the federal government for its failure to adequately address the breast cancer crisis. In this four-pronged campaign, the National Cancer Institute was one of the agencies we criticized for their misleading approach to environmental exposures linked to breast cancer. We have maintained the pressure and met with the agency to discuss the steps necessary to ensure true primary prevention remains a priority. For more information or updates on this campaign, check out our blog.

We encourage you to remain critical of multi-million dollar pinkwashing corporations, industries, mega nonprofits, and government leaders as we approach October. Don’t let pink ribbons distract from the real work that needs to be done.

We look forward to you joining us for another successful Think Before You Pink® campaign. Stay tuned!