Day 26 - Let's Make a Cure Happen

It's Day 26 of my month-long pink ribbon selfie project.  Today's item is mostly message, and not so much ribbon.  The Let's Make a Cure Happen t-shirt by New Balance has a big and bold pink message on its front, and it's my thoughts exactly!

And yes, I took this pic in my bathroom.  I had other plans for today's shot, but I missed (okay, squandered) the 15 minutes of sunshine that we were treated to today, so it had to be indoors.  I tried to take one in front of my desk ... even cleaned my desk (somewhat) first ... but then I couldn't get the shirt AND the desk, AND me looking decent.  This evening with the iPhone and selfie stick was particularly difficult.  So, so many attempts.  I'm sure you're getting tired of hearing about it, and maybe you're thinking that I must just be putting on.  I assure you, I'm not.  The girls even tried to help, to no avail.  I got a short video, lots of blurries, and even a "burst" of 29 photos of me looking like "whattheheck!?"  [don't even ask]  After 26 days I think it's safe to say that it's hopeless.

You know what's not hopeless?  The quest to find a cure!  I'm hearing a lot lately about the commercialization and profitability of pink ribbon campaigns.  Lots of companies are pinking out their products for breast cancer awareness month.  People are getting tired of it, and some are complaining that organizations aren't donating "enough" to the cause, and are merely profiting off the sale of their pink items.  The complainers also like to point how much money the organizations make overall, and what a small, small portion of that is going to breast cancer.  I've seen articles that break down what is actually donated of, say, a single item in the campaign, and they are disappointed in the end figures.

They way it works, FYI, is that ultimately, people need to be paid for the production of a product.  The product needs to be transported and marketed, too.  Not everyone in the chain has agreed to working for free to donate to the cause.  That's why the amount donated CAN'T be the amount the end user paid for the item.  You get to the wear the item, and a portion of what you paid for that item is donated.  I'm not saying that there is no abuse going on.  Certainly, if someone says they are donating and they don't, that's a problem.

But the way I see it, if a pink campaign allows an entity to donate MILLIONS of dollars to a reputable cancer organization (such as the American Cancer Society,)  HOW CAN THIS BE A BAD THING???