Cancer
Compassion, Awareness and Pinkwashing
October 4th, 2012
More insidious is the possibility of pinkwashing: exploiting a noble cause for commercial purposes. Most of the advertisements in the pink paper had some direct relationship to fundraising, patient support or research, but a couple gave me a queasy feeling—such as one casino’s emphatic half-pager prompting readers to earn enough points for a pink-ribbon charm bracelet by playing slots. Read more »
The Latest Thought
Cancer Makes a Killing
Have we turned a disease into a celebrity?
June 14th, 2012
Cancer is a rock star. I want to hire cancer’s PR firm. The damn thing has diversified, outsourced, broken into every market. It has clothing lines, houseware accessories, those fucking annoying rubber bracelets that give adolescent boys the excuse to sport “I ♥ boobies” on their wrists. Cancer pushes magnet ribbons of varied hue and trinkets that would be the envy of any swag-bag-toting conventioneer. Even firearms distributors are trying to profit from cancer’s PR glow. Now you can rob the corner store while raising awareness of breast cancer with your pink-slide Walther “Hope Edition” handgun. We just love cancer. Read more »
