Pink ribbon
Help us wake up our legislators and America by wearing this ribbon.” Haley was strictly grassroots, handing the cards out at the local supermarket and writing prominent women, everyone from former First Ladies to Dear Abby.
[6] While specifically representing breast cancer awareness, the pink ribbon is also a symbol and a proxy of goodwill towards women in general.
[15] Designed by the mint's director of engraving, Cosme Saffioti, this colored coin is the second in history to be put into regular circulation.
Because the pink ribbon is not licensed by any corporation, it is more open to being abused by businesses that donate little or none of their revenue to breast cancer research.
[citation needed] In 2002 activism against corporate pinkwashing gained international media coverage when the BCA launched its "Think before You Pink" campaign against companies or organisations "that claim to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink ribbon product, but at the same time produce, manufacture and/or sell products that are likely to cause the disease.
"[20] The BCA has particularly excoriated major cosmetic companies such as Avon, Revlon, and Estée Lauder, which have claimed to promote women's health while simultaneously using known and/or suspected cancer-causing chemicals, such as parabens and phthalates in their products.
[21] As alternative to pinkwashing the BCA runs an annual awareness campaign "Breast Cancer Industry Month" to emphasize the costs of treatment.
[22] The Susan G. Komen Foundation, founded 1982 to end breast cancer forever, has also been criticized for pinkwashing because its corporate partnerships amount to little more than cause related marketing that encourage a culture of consumerism.
In response to this criticism the Komen Foundation and the then New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman established guidelines to help consumers understand what their donations support.
[26] The book inspired a 2012 National Film Board of Canada documentary, Pink Ribbons, Inc., directed by Léa Pool.
