Pink Blog

(lian amaris)

This is important.

There’s a big flap going on about the Komen Foundation right now, and how they are cutting off funding for groups “under investigation” which is code for Planned Parenthood. Of course, PP is only under investigation because it’s been targeted by right-wing groups, but Komen doesn’t want to do the dirty work of figuring that out, they just believe whatever they’re being told by conservatives. And although they’re trying to fix the bad publicity, they’re still a little shady about whether they’re actually going to be funding PP without political agendas getting in the way.

Women’s health is important. Planned Parenthood supports women’s health. Millions of women nationwide would be unable to receive ob/gyn services without them. They are a major provider of breast cancer screenings in the United States. America needs Planned Parenthood.

We don’t need the Susan G. Komen foundation, though. And although they make a lot of awesome pink stuff, there’s plenty more that doesn’t come from them. Check out this awesome design for an example, or this bumper sticker. Those don’t support PP directly, though. If you’d like to do that, stop by their website.

Women’s health is more important than pink stuff.

Finally! The famous ModKat litter box is now available in pink! You can pick up the exclusive limited edition at Fab.com for $160 – that’s $40 off the regular retail price, and this one benefits the National Breast Cancer Foundation. What’s really great is that if you google for “modkat pink” you will see that people have been clamoring for a pink ModKat box for a long time…and now they have one!

The latest product to get the pink-for-breast-cancer treatment is Emergen-C, a powdered drink mix that contains huge amounts of Vitamin C. The company has partnered with Keep A Breast Foundation since 2007 and they donate 50% of profits from this item to the charity. That’s actually not too shabby an amount, when you consider that other companies only donate 5-10% of their profits from pink items. The Emergen-C Pink product, which is pink lemonade flavored, is reportedly the brainchild of actress Liv Tyler, along with her mother and grandmother.

From the Think Before You Pink campaign:

Pinkwasher: (pink’-wah-sher) noun. A company that purports to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink ribbon campaign, but manufactures products that are linked to the disease.

This is an excellent point. As much as we here at PinkBlog (okay, me, there’s only one of me) love that everything under the sun is now available in pink, we really have to admit that sometimes that 1% donation to a breast cancer fund is not at all practical or even helpful. I’ve seen small print where companies say “up to $10,000 will be donated” – which is to say, if enough people buy the pink whatzits, then the rest above $10k is pure profit for the company. You think you’re doing something good, but read the fine print.

On a related note, the Buy (Less) Crap people focus on the (RED) campaign and help you to give money directly without consuming.

The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) has established the Pink Zone to increase awareness of breast cancer on the court and around the country. They are heavily involved in fundraising and have collaborated with the NCAA for some of their efforts. You can buy the pink basketball seen here, as well as other pink products, in their shop.

Bloomingdale’s has a special section called their “Little Pink Book” that donates part of the proceeds to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation between now and December 21st. Not quite everything there is pink, but it’s close.

For the entire month of the October, every pair of pink Crocs you buy will result in $5 being sent to the Breast Cancer Research Fund. There’s not very many styles; I chose the Malindi to feature here, though the stylish Sassari count as well. The other pink styles are only the usual goofy-looking Crocs, so if you want comfortable, attractive pink shoes that contribute to breast cancer research, go with the Malindi or Sassari. Only for October!

Please forgive the really bad picture, but I had to share the breast cancer doughnut with you! I saw this at my local 7-11. It is a frosted doughnut with sprinkles that benefits the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. It’s $1.19 which is more than their usual doughnut, and only 15 cents goes to the foundation, but it’s better than nothing. They’re actually offering it as part of their own “Pink for October” type celebration. Supposedly they have other pink stuff too, though I didn’t see anything besides this doughnut.

Does anybody know what airline this is?! According to the photographer, who gave permission for me to use the picture, this is at Vidrasau Airport in Romania.

This pink plane is easily identified – it’s from Delta, in honor of breast cancer awareness. The plane was introduced in September 2006, and it was used at least temporarily on regular flights. No word on where the plane is today, though.