Think pink ... or think for yourself !

From a calendar with topless airplane hostesses to “Think Pink Burgers” in Canada, pink products are everywhere for Pink October. But is it really about public health? Some say that famous brands have hijacked Pink October for their own aims.

How could it be wrong to use this pink burger to collect money for cancer research? For each burger you buy, Hero Certified Burger will give $1 to a breast cancer research foundation. Convincing, right? But only $1 per burger... It’s easy to understand who benefits most, and that’s the point. This is not about cancer, this is just about profits and emotional manipulation. Another example is a famous restaurant in Paris where you can find a special 59 euro ‘Pink October’ menu with absolutely no indication of the amount given for research… When major companies use cancer to improve their brand image, it is called ‘Pinkwashing’.

What’s more, if you pay attention, you may find it weird and ask yourself: is it a good idea to use hamburgers to promote Pink October, knowing that junk food can increase the risk of cancer? Probably not, but it can make money.

“Today doctors […]

 make women who do not want to have a

mammogram feel guilty”  says Dr. Cécile Bour.

We may even wonder if this awareness campaign is medically useful. French radiologist Cécile Bour says that breast cancer screening has not decreased the mortality rate. It has only decreased thanks to advances in treatment and because benign cancers are detected earlier. ‘Curing cancer which did not need to be cured and turning healthy women into sick ones’, that is how doctors increase the survival rate and force screening on women believes Dr. Bour.

We can fight cancer but we do not have to take part in an advertising campaign, nor feel guilty if we do not want to do a mammogram. And don’t forget that giving some time or money directly to a breast cancer foundation will always be far more useful than eating a pink burger.

Did you know? 

In 2012, almost 12,000 women died of breast cancer in France

About 1% of breast cancers concern men between 60 and 65 years old 

1 woman in 8 will develop breast cancer in her lifetime

Cassandra Nacef and Coline Hagen

References:

http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/sante/cancer-du-sein-stop-a-la-guimauve-d-octobre-rose_1723419.html

http://leplus.nouvelobs.com/contribution/1431645-octobre-rose-cancer-du-sein-il-faut-vraiment-dire-stop-au-depistage-precoce-organise.html

http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/sante/octobre-rose-les-pires-initiatives-contre-le-cancer-du-sein_1725420.html

http://www.frm.org/cancer-du-sein/chiffres.html