Matthew Dawson

Prof. Babcock

Eng 137H Section 11

11 October 2016

Rhetorical Analysis of Pink Products and Relay for Life

When buying a product with the pink ribbon, what do consumers think of? Do they think

of the 2.8 million woman who are undergoing or have undergone treatment for breast cancer? Do

they think about the 300,000 people who will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 alone?

(U.S. Breast) Probably not. The pink ribbon has become the bully of all ribbons and an

obvious marketing scheme. Consumers subconsciously purchase pink products without

acknowledging those suffering. On the other hand, Relay for Life is an event that consciously

raises awareness. Instead of buying a pink product half-heartedly, the consumer is called into

direct activism. A sign for Relay for Life in my area stated Join us in the fight against cancer!

The word join marks the stark difference instead of blindly throwing money that may or may

not go to charity, the consumer is asked to get involved, while calling the actual cancer victims to

attention. Though they have the same kairotic circumstances since cancer is a constant threat,

pink products user marketing schemes to give consumers a false sense of charity while Relay for

Life uses rhetorical strategies to raise money and awareness in the battle against cancer.

The pink ribbon is the awareness ribbon for breast cancer that overshadows all the other

cancer awareness ribbons as a result of its commercialization. Its original design was a peach

ribbon by Charlotte Haley and the purpose was to help us wake up our legislators and America

by wearing this ribbon since only five percent of the National Cancer Institutes budgets went

toward cancer prevention (Fernandez). The ribbon was then turned pink and commercialized
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originally by Time Magazine and Este Lauder. Originally, pink ribbons were distributed along

with self-exam instruction cards at Este Lauder stores to raise awareness about breast health,

encourage regular screening, and protest the National Cancer Institute for donating so little (Our

History). Over time the context of the pink ribbon has changed as it has become more

commercialized, oversaturated, and much less informing.

The commercialization of the ribbon lead to a breakthrough in cause-related marketing,

which is an agreement between corporations and nonprofit charities in order to help corporate

sells and the charitys cause (What is Cause). Consumers are prone to inherently buying a pink

product because it ties to a pink ribbon and proceeds are sometimes given to charities such as

Susan G. Komen, the National Breast Cancer Foundation or another charity. This sets up the

consumer to be tricked since any company can paint a product pink or use a pink ribbon. Many

companies do not specify which charity or how much they actually donate. Without the

knowledge of the consumer, companies can donate as much or little as they want, and in some

cases nothing at all and claim their product is just raising awareness. This detracts from the

appeal of ethos of pink products as consumers buy a product that could contribute nothing to the

cause, leaving questions for how much if any money actually gets donated.

While one of the main functions for pink products is to raise awareness, this can be

misleading as some pink products actually cause cancer. Companies that use pink ribbons to help

raise money for the cure ironically sell products that contain carcinogens, which are cancer

causing substances (Cenicola). Imagine buying a large, pink KFC bucket with fried chicken that

states Bucket for the Cure. The irony in this is the National Cancer Institute associates breast

cancer with "high intakes of well-done, fried, or barbequed meats" (KFC Buckets). There is no

logic in supporting a movement that supports products that conflict with its ideal, eliminating all
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appeal to logos of pink products. A better investment would be to donate to a non-profit without

the intermediary action of purchasing a product in a souped-up marketing scheme.

Products attempt to use pink imagery to convey a sense of unity among women and

appeal to empathetic emotions of maternal figures. It completely ignores the prevalence of

breast cancer in men. Also, oversaturation of pink products eliminates any pathos generated

through the pink imagery as the product is so common the public often overlooks. At one time,

pink was the means, said Karuna Jagger of the Breast Cancer Action group. Now, its almost

become the end in itself. In its most simplistic forms, pink has become a distraction (Begos).

Pink products have become so routine that they no longer bring out emotions of empathy but

rather distract consumers from the actual activism that would raise money and awareness those

with breast cancer to attention. Instead of directly donating to a charity that would benefit breast

cancer care and research, consumers are given a false sense of charity by buying a pink product

which may have little to no contribution.

Relay for Life is an event that has the similar ideals of pink products, but over a different

medium and means to reach these goals. Relay is an event that uses inclusive language to call for

the general public to Join us in the fight against cancer during an event to commemorate those

afflicted with cancer and raise money for research. The event began with a single runner, Dr.

Gordy Klatt, as he circled the track for 24 hours straight raising $27,000 in 1985 (Dr. Gordon

Klatt). While the event has greatly expanded, the context is still the same that one person can

make a difference in raising money for cancer. This stresses the importance for increasing as

much participation in a community as possible.

Relay has expanded to become a global event on a community scale and the proceeds are

guaranteed to go toward the American Cancer Society or ACS. Instead of buying products from a
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large corporation, relayers raise money, and buy products from other participants and the profit is

then turned in to the ACS. The American Cancer Society has a 97/100 accountability and

transparency rating according to chartnavigator.org, so both the event and charity convey

credibility through a sense of ethos. Relayers can easily see where their money is heading by

viewing financial statements on ACSs website, which shows where money raised is spent. The

only downside to the ACS is that only 40% of donations go toward actual research and care,

which is slightly misleading (Rating). While this may seem low, a good portion of the other

60% goes toward advertisements and education, which raise awareness and encourage a healthy,

active lifestyle to reduce risk factors associating to cancer. Relay for Lifes guaranteed donations

to the ACS along with the charitys financial clarity exhibit integrity that is not present in pink

ribbon products.

To garner participation, advertisements for Relay for Life use inclusive language such as

Join us to persuade citizens to take part in an event which reaps a sense of inclusivity. This

persuades the public to participate in the shared enterprise and common goal of defeating and

reducing incidences and defeating cancer. The participants then make up the civic infrastructure

who not only raise the money but participate in the Survivor Lap, Fight Back Ceremony, and

Luminaria Ceremony. Unlike pink ribbon products, this calls to attention the victims with cancer

and appeals to health, family, and emotions. Those being honored could be someone you know

maybe a friend, family member, or someone close to you and they are telling the stories of the

struggles and battles that come with cancer. Stories such as these strongly appeal to pathos as it

puts the cancer epidemic on a more personal and communal scale, which greatly intensifies its

emotional impact.
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Though pink products and the pink ribbon appear to be rhetorically persuasive, upon

further analysis, they are manipulative and a form of cause-related marketing. Because they are

given a false sense of charity and goodwill, consumers rely on purchasing pink products to

replace more beneficial acts such as direct donations or actual activism. Meanwhile Relay for

Life requires direct participation in an event that commemorates those afflicted, educates its

participants, and ultimately raising money toward cancer research. In conclusion, pink products

make a weak attempt to comply with the rhetorical proofs of ethos, pathos, and logos by using

marketing schemes and manipulation of the consumers; however, Relay for Life successfully

employs these proofs by encouraging personal activism and awareness.

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Works Cited

Cenicola, Tony. Skip the Breast Cancer Awareness Gimmicks and Donate Directly. Boston

Globe. Web. 30 Sept. 2016. https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/09/30/skip-

breast-cancer-awareness-gimmicks-and-donate-

directly/tydipjhb3otvtdiygpudai/story.html.

Dr. Gordon Klatt. Relay For Life. Web. http://relay.acsevents.org/site/pageserver/?

pagename=relay_learn_gordyklatt.

Fernandez, Sandy M. History of the Pink Ribbon. Think Before You Pink. Web.

http://thinkbeforeyoupink.org/resources/history-of-the-pink-ribbon/.

Begos, Kevin. Breast Cancer Awareness Oversaturation Vexes Many. Tuscaloosa News. Web.

12 Oct. 2011. http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20111012/breast-cancer-awareness-

oversaturation-vexes-many.

KFC Buckets for the Cure. Encouterre. Web. http://www.ecouterre.com/10-ridiculous-

pinkwashed-products-that-may-increase-your-risk-of-breast-cancer/kfc-buckets-for-the-

cure/?extend=1.

Rating for American Cancer Society. Charity Navigator. Web.

https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=6495.

Our History. Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Web. 21 Aug. 2014,

https://www.bcrfcure.org/history.

U.S. Breast Cancer Statistics. Breastcancer.org. Web.

http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/understand_bc/statistics.

What Is Cause-Related Marketing? Grant Space. Web. http://grantspace.org/tools/knowledge-

base/funding-resources/corporations/cause-related-marketing.