SEEKING A GOOD FIT

There is little doubt that the eradication of a disease such as breast cancer is a noble cause to support. Who wouldn't want to be assoeiated with the cure for such a devastating illness ? But before you run out and wrap pink ribbons around your products and services like CIBC, Kitchenaid, Betty Crocker, Swarovski, Hush Puppies, Ernst & Young, Tetley Tea and Wonderbra (a good fit if ever I saw one) to name only a few (to see more examples of this you could visit the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's Web site [http://www.cbcf.org]), perhaps a few sobering thoughts about what you are actually supporting would be worthwhile. If all you're looking for is a high-profile cause, you won't need to ask any more questions since breast cancer clearly fits the bill, but if you're actually interested in making a difference in your community, there are a few questions that need answers.

If your organization is seeking to support a high-risk women's health cause, you might do a bit of initial research. You will discover that it is not breast cancer that is the top killer of women in developed countries , rather it is heart disease. However, breast cancer seems to be much more high profile and emotionally charged. Perhaps the emotional charge is related to the body part, or our collective perception of the body part that is affected by the disease.

With that in mind we might consider a San Francisco Chronicle newspaper column ^{[ 2]} that introduced me to the San Francisco-based advocacy group Breast Cancer Action whose-motto is ˜think before you pink. It is their contention that breast cancer today is big business and that many organizations are forming marketing attachments to the cause while really donating very little towards a cure. For example, last year the high-profile American breast cancer group Susan G. Komen Foundation spent $26 million on research, $6 million on treatment and a whopping $33 million (all in US dollars) on public education, much of which is devoted to teaching breast self-examination (which recent medical research has indicated to be far less useful than first hoped).

Even the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, which every year is the recipient of the ˜run for the cure money that is donated by individuals and corporate entities, spent only 59 per cent of its money last year on research. ^{[ 3]} And my money, if it isn't going into research, it isn't going towards a ˜cure. At least in the United Kingdom the organization that sponsors the Breast Cancer Awareness month and pins pink ribbons on products of organizations that support them calls itself ˜Breast Cancer Care and the money goes to a range of services for women with breast cancer. There is no perception that your donation will cure anything.

Supporting causes or big business?

There seems to be a growing subculture of writers who believe that breast cancer activists and all of those women who participate religiously in many of the high-profile fund raisers for breast cancer research might just be cogs in the wheels of big businesses for whom breast cancer is lucrative indeed. According to Judy Brady writing for the Breast Cancer Action newsletter, few people seem to know that breast cancer awareness month is what she describes as ˜a slick public relations campaign designed by Zeneca's once-parent company Imperial Chemical Industries. ^{[ 4]} Zeneca is the pharmaceutical company that produces tamoxifen, a chemotherapy agent used both for treating patients with breast cancer and for prevention in high-risk women.

So, what is this all about and where are the ethical issues (if they are not already painfully evident)? When public relations practitioners are making strategic decisions about which community causes to align their organizations with, from an ethical standpoint, it is important to determine the benefit not only to the organization, but to the community as well. Indeed, it's critical that, to be an ethical public relations strategy, it must not in any way mislead the public. The actual impact of the contribution should not be overblown and the target activities for the support need to be clear and not overshadowed by media hype. You'd better do your research.

There is a great deal of public cynicism about the social cause activities of profit-minded organizations these days. Whereas there is nothing fundamentally immoral or evil about polishing your organization's image in association with community-mind-edness, there is a requirement for honesty. No one really expects that there will be total altruism in an organization's community activities. However, what is important to the ethical practice of public relations is that there be mutual benefit to both the organization and the cause, and that the promotion be honest.

After taking a heartfelt look at these ethical issues, if breast cancer ˜awareness is still where you believe your money is best spent for the community ”then it's the right decision. Given my own family background, I'd be the first in line to support finding a cure ”but more awareness? I don't think so. Besides, I'm told that there are more people employed in the cancer business today than there are people with the disease ”and the morbidity statistics are only getting worse .

Now we'll move on to our second discussion of public relations and marketing tactics that need further scrutiny.

^{[ 2]} Ryan, Joan [accessed 16 October 2003] Cures Not Campaigns (originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle , 22 October 2002). http://www.susanlovemd.org/community/greatreads/021022.html

^{[ 3]} Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation [accessed 23 October 2003] Annual Report 2002, p 28. http://www.cbcf.org/ pdfs /CBCF2002AR.pdf

^{[ 4]} Brady, Judy [accessed 23 October 2003] Public Relations and Cancer, Breast Cancer Awareness Newsletter #50 (October/November, 1998). http://www.bcaction.org/Pages/SearchablePages/1998Newsletters/Newsletter050F.html