I have been amazed by the amount of e-mails, texts, tweets and phone calls I have received in response to last week’s blog on those exploiting breast cancer to make a buck. I received dozens if not hundreds of follow up articles and personal stories of triumph and tragedy. This blog was to initially thank those who shared their stories with me, but I wanted to take the opportunity to address a point missed by many.

A few people, definitely the vast minority, argued that bringing awareness to breast cancer was honorable in most if not all circumstances. I decided to poll those close to me who have battled and won this fight as well as those who unfortunately lost loved ones to this awful disease. In all cases the feeling was mutual. “Who is not aware of cancer? We need a cure and action to find a cure.” Simply putting a pink ribbon on products for the sake of drumming up attention (or sales depending how you look at it) is just wrong. Of course it is a great thing to keep to causes like breast cancer in the forefront, but talking about it will not cure it. Seeing a pink ribbon and reflecting on it will not lead to a cure. October might be breast cancer awareness month, but shouldn’t awareness lead to action?

The blog was not meant to say that all marketers who use the pink ribbon are bad, only those who use it without a plan to give back to the cancer community. The overwhelming majority of consumers are under the impression that money spent buying items with pink ribbons goes to breast cancer organizations. It is important to point out those companies that are giving back to cancer research and organizations and at the same time point out those jumping on the band wagon for their own benefit. If you read the other blog, the title was Pink is the New Green, referring to all those companies hopping on the environmental bandwagon and have little to no intentions of doing anything to help improve the health of the planet. Not that we need another government regulation, but there should be some sort of regulation implemented to protect consumers against those using causes to make a buck. Perhaps an official seal, an official ribbon or something that lets consumers know, this company or product gives back.