No matter where you go, when you see a pink ribbon, you know what it stands for. You do not need a picture or a text below the pink ribbon to know that it stands for breast cancer battle. People worldwide associate the pink ribbon with breast cancer without having to think about it. But the pink ribbon has a history and some present controversy as well.
The idea of using a ribbon to stand for breast cancer battle started in 1979. In 1979, Americans were being held hostage in Iran and their families and friends tied yellow ribbons around trees in order to show their support for the hostages. This was their way of supporting freedom and the release of hostages in Iran.
In the 1990, a 68 year old woman, called Charlotte Haley used the same ribbon concept when her daughter was diagnosed with cancer. She began making peach ribbons and attached them to cards in order to support her daughter’s battle with breast cancer. These cards contained information about the annual budget of the National Cancer Institute and how only a small portion of this budget was spent for cancer research and cancer prevention.
In year 1991, Evelyn Lauder of the Estee' Lauder Corporation and Alexandra Penney of Self Magazine put together an insert piece for the October edition of Self magazine to recognize breast cancer awareness month.
They had heard about the peach ribbons of Charlotte Haley and decided to use them as well. But when Haley was contacted, she declined claiming it would make this cause commercialized. However, Lauder and Penney still wanted to use the ribbon concept, so they consulted a legal department to see what there is to do. The legal department agreed they could use the ribbon as long as they changed its color.
So Lauder and Penney chose pink and the breast cancer logo became the pink ribbon. Today, the pink ribbon does not only stand for the battle against breast cancer, but also for all women who were diagnosed with breast cancer and all people who stood up for this cause and helped in one way or another. There are several breast cancer products, like clothing, jewelry, items for your car, notebooks, laptops, candles, skin care and cosmetic products, etc.
There are also consumer group which monitor the activity of big companies which merchandise breast cancer products and use the pink ribbon on their products, in order to see how much they actually donate for breast cancer research and development. Breast cancer is a disease which affects many women. The breast cancer pink ribbon stands for this disease, but few consumers who purchase merchandise for breast cancer aid know the history behind this small, simple, pink symbol.