Stop buying the NFL’s pink merchandise and start donating toward a breast-cancer cure

By now, everyone is aware of breast cancer. That almost-blanket understanding is the reason some people are questioning why we haven’t progressed from Breast Cancer Awareness Month toward the general direction of a cure.

Critics say that the millions upon millions of dollars poured into the campaign every October haven’t produced results. And they cast a cynical, knowing eye on massive corporations that might be using the awareness effort (and its ubiquitous pink ribbons) to show they have a heart.

Hello, NFL.

The league, never one to miss an opportunity to tug on a heartstring, has had its players awash in pink for years now. But critics of the broader national campaign say they want meaningful progress against the disease. They want the money raised to go toward a cure, not toward a public-relations effort.

“What do we have to show for the billions spent on pink ribbon products?” Karuna Jaggar, the executive director of Breast Cancer Action, told the New York Times. “A lot of us are done with awareness. We want action.”

“The pinkification of the month of October, from football cleats to coffee cups, isn’t helping women,” Cindy Pearson, the executive director of the National Women’s Health Network, told the Times.

A 2013 ESPN report showed that, for every $100 the NFL sold in pink merchandise, only $11.25 went to the American Cancer Society. The rest went to the company that made the merchandise and to the company that sells the items, which – tada! – is often the NFL and individual teams.

Some advice to those of you who want to make a difference: Stop buying pink NFL merchandise and start giving money directly to groups that fight breast cancer. You might just help speed up a cure.