Despite dudding newsagents last month by placing their Pink Ribbon magazine exclusively with Woolworths, the National Breast Cancer Foundation is, through its commercial partners, is pushing other Pink Ribbon products on newsagents. We are being asked to sell pens, pads, bands, badges – all manner of products. It is disappointing that the NBCF is yet to respond to my complaint and complaints from other newsagents about their exclusive Woolworths deal. I emailed them on September 24 and have not received a response. The deal with Woolworths and the lack of dialogue with newsagents following complaints is causing newsagents to reject Pink Ribbon products.
There is an unpleasant smell about how commercial the Pink Ribbon campaign has become. The Woolworths deal could well be a tipping point. It makes me want to know exactly how much of what I pay for a Pink Ribbon branded product goes to breast cancer research. If it is less than 20% then I am better off making a cash donation to a less commercially connected fund raising body.
My shop recently raised $250.00 in direct donations for the Steve and Terri Irwin Wildlife Warriors Foundation. There were not gimmicks. 100% of what was raised went to the charity. No sexy posters. No exclusive deals. This was grass roots fund raising for an excellent cause. Maybe the NBCF could cut out the corporates and get back to basics. In the meantime I’m not stocking Pink Ribbon products.