Pink campaign doesn't tickle everyone

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. -- October used to be shrouded in black and orange, but in recent years, pink has nudged into the palette.

It seems just about every product you can buy -- from Indianapolis Colts mini-helmets to M&M candies, from Avaya phone faceplates to Yoplait yogurt -- is available in pink, or at least pink packaging, as part of a promotion to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research.

The companies say the "cause marketing" campaigns do good for the world -- and they're not bad for sales, either.

It may sound like an idea that is hard to argue with, but all the pink has some people seeing red.

For five years now, the San Francisco-based group Breast Cancer Action, which bills itself as the "bad girls of breast cancer," has been running an anti-pink product campaign called "Think Before You Pink."

The group's executive director, Barbara Brenner, a breast cancer survivor who never wears a pink ribbon herself, says in many cases corporate images get what she calls a "pinkwash" while the cause gets nominal donations.

"Awareness, we don't need any more of," she said. "We have plenty of awareness. The question is what we do now."

The pink sales campaigns are probably the biggest and best-known efforts in the world of "cause marketing," where companies team up with charities with the aim of bringing in more money for both.

"They could decide that they're going to put cartoon characters on their package and pay a licensing fee," says David Hessekiel, president of Cause Marketing Forum, a Rye, N.Y., company that puts on workshops about cause marketing. "And none of that money would be going to charity."

Apple sells red iPods as part of an effort of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. sells a stuffed giraffe whose proceeds support the World Wildlife Federation. Then, there's Newman's Own, the food company that gives all its profits to various causes.

In 1982, the Dallas-based foundation now known as Susan G. Komen for the Cure began trying to get attention for breast cancer. Today, its campaigns are a juggernaut.

In the last fiscal year, which ended March 31, Komen says it brought in more than $58 million from corporate sponsors. Much of that money came from peddlers of pink products, though some was from race sponsorships.

Nearly 140 companies are running promotions to support Komen; additional companies are using pink and contributing to other breast-cancer causes.

Last year, the Camden-based Campbell Soup Co. made a special pink version of its famous red-and-white cans of chicken noodle and tomato soups for Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. It sold 7 million pink cans at the stores.

This year, Campbell is making 14 million pink cans and shipping them to 60 grocery chains around the country. While some pink products are sold at a higher price, the pink soup is marked down with a special five cans for $3 deal. Stores are giving Campbell special space to display the cans.

Last year, the pink cans sold at Kroger better than the red-and-white ones usually do. Company spokesman John Faulkner would not say whether the company's bottom-line improved because of the promotion. "It allows us to support the cause, and support it in a very visible way," Faulkner said.

While some companies make contributions based on sales volume, Campbell is simply giving a total of $300,000 to three breast cancer-related charities, including $100,000 to Komen.