August 1, 2010
THE PINK BOOTS
Every nation has its flag, every company has its logo and every cause has its ribbon. Such emblems convey uniqueness and make an organization or a cause immediately recognizable. While graphic design is the primary source of a logo’s power, its colors are also important. Can you imagine Coca Cola using any other color but red? Or, can you imagine a breast cancer foundation without a pink ribbon?
The pink ribbon was born of an arranged marriage between pink, the color universally associated with women, and the ribbon, long an emblem of solidarity related to a cause. The first major pink ribbon campaign occurred in October 1992, when Estee Lauder, the pink ribbon’s matchmaker, placed pink ribbons on cosmetics to declare her support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Pink ribbons can now be seen on virtually everything from soup to nuts. They’ve been used with reckless abandon, giving rise to cries of “Foul play!” A growing number of women argue that the integrity of the pink ribbon, and the cause it represents, have been crassly diluted by the preoccupation to just sell stuff. A counter-movement, the Think Before You Pink crowd, warns that the public have been “pink washed” into buying products adorned with a pink ribbons, with no thought to where the money is going or what it will be used for.
Perhaps the most startling example of pink washing occurred at a breast cancer power lunch held this past spring in Washington, D. C. for women in the media. In addition to the predictable pink flowers and pink linens, there were pink dildos passed out as party favors. A cheery article about the event appeared in the Washington Post in which it was pointed out that the dildos could be charged on a laptop computer. How convenient. I assume the bedtime routine might go something like this: check email, charge dildo, close your eyes and think of breast cancer awareness. Right.
Another far more harmful example of pink washing occurred in May, when giant buckets of fried chicken were served up as “Pink Buckets for the Cure,” the centerpiece of a Susan G. Komen For The Cure Foundation fund-raising campaign in collaboration with its partner in food crime, Kentucky Fried Chicken. This curiously bizarre campaign crossed the line of common sense, encouraging (mostly poor) women to buy greasy fast food known to increase one’s risk for breast cancer. Paying for both sides of the war on breast cancer are you now?
Two years ago, when Breast Health & Healing set out to design its own logo, we knew we wanted a unique image that would capture our global approach to the problems of breast cancer. With a new vision in mind – the Pure Cure, prevention - we selected a blue and green earth surrounded by a halo of yellow women. We wanted our logo to convey the message that we were joined together on a mission to discover the causes of breast cancer and to prevent the disease. Of course, we also selected a lovely pink ribbon – because every breast cancer foundation needs a pink ribbon – but we added our halo of women to reinforce our message that we are working collaboratively to discovery the causes of breast cancer and are committed to the Pure Cure, prevention.
We are proud of our logo and our pink ribbon. We feel that our emblems definitely set us apart from others on a very crowded playing field. But now, as we prepare to launch our first major marketing campaign to raise awareness for the Pure Cure, we must look to a new emblem, something that speaks more specifically to the new direction in which we are headed.
After a bit of thought, we chose a pair of United States Navy, Belleville 330, steel toe flight boots, dyed pink. The Pink Boots are now the symbol of our journey to find the causes of breast cancer and to prevent the disease.
The Belleville 330’s are the footwear worn by United States Navy strike fighter pilots. You may recall the photo of the Golden Warriors, an elite squadron of naval aviators, that appeared on our website two years ago. The photo was taken on the flight deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt as it was cruising toward the Gulf. The aviators stood in front of their FA/18 Hornets, proudly displaying Breast Health & Healing t-shirts under their regulation flight suits. The photo was the inspiration for the Pink Boots. Now we intend to put our Pink Boots to work and here’s how we’re going to do it.
Our Pink Boots are going to tour the world, as famous and not so famous individuals are photographed wearing them. The photographs will be posted on the Breast Health & Healing website and on a Facebook wall created especially for them. We’ll keep track of the Pink Boots with posts on Facebook and Twitter to let everyone know where they are and whose wearing them.
The shoelaces used in each photo will be used to create a piece of jewelry or a work of art and then will be auctioned on eBay, with 100% of the proceeds going to support the work of the foundation. Specifically, the money will be used to fund the research of Drs. Beatriz Pogo, Polly Etkind, and Paul Levine, scientists researching the breast cancer virus. Their funding has been cut drastically in the past several years and they need our help to keep their research going. The funds generated from the Pink Boots will help them get the money they need to answer the question; does a virus cause breast cancer in women?
We fully expect that our Pink Boots will become as recognizable, and as famous, as the Nike swoosh or the Star-Spangled Banner. And we are certain that those who support our cause and demonstrate their support by wearing our Pink Boots for a photograph or an event will change the direction of breast cancer research, from what is now primarily a focus on treatment to a more substantive – not just pink-washed - commitment to understanding its causes so that we can, at last, prevent it.
Kathleen T. Ruddy, MD
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