Walking the Talk in Cause Marketing

I recently came across a thought-provoking post on a website called Good. Titled “Next year let’s skip breast cancer awareness month,” the author questions the commitment of the many corporate supporters of Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October), whose pink ribbon marketing significantly increases sales but often with just a fractional contribution to breast cancer work. Worse, she makes a case that some pink ribbon corporate sponsors actually contribute to breast cancer incidence by using carcinogenic materials in their products (e.g., plastics and cosmetics). She believes such supporters would do better to find ways to produce safer products than to create pink-hued corporate marketing products and campaigns.

While I admire her iconoclastic mentality, I must question her epidemiology. According to the American Cancer Society website, there is not yet a proven link between environmental pollutants and breast cancer.

Still, I think she raises an important point about “cause marketing.” While I think it is perfectly acceptable for corporate partners to derive a financial benefit from their support of a cause, it would be optimal if the partner were fully invested in the cause. For instance, in addition to donating some proceeds to breast cancer work, wouldn’t it be good if corporate partners had policies providing work site lactation rooms for breastfeeding mothers – given that studies suggest that breastfeeding decreases breast cancer risk? Wouldn’t it be good if corporate partners offered employees discounted or free gym memberships – given the link between obesity and breast cancer and the growing evidence that increased physical activity decreases breast cancer risk? Wouldn’t it be good if these employers provided affordable employee access to health insurance coverage so that women could access potentially life-saving mammograms?

In these cynical times, as companies try to buff their images through alignment with good causes, it would seem to me that charitable organizations hold corporate partners accountable for “walking the talk."

Doug Hirano, MPH, APCA Executive Director