The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation may have reversed course Friday on its decision to pull funding for cancer screening from Planned Parenthood, but the full effects of its original decision may be difficult to undo.
“We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives,” Komen foundation CEO Nancy Brinker said in a statement released Friday morning. “We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue. We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics – anyone’s politics.”
The backlash sparked by the initial move brought more than just questions about the foundation’s funding decision and political motivations, though. It also drew a renewed focus on what The New York Times last fall called “the Pinking of America.” Over its 30-year-history, the Komen foundation has successfully made pink ribbons the symbol of support for those stricken by breast cancer, unleashing a rainbow of emulators who have looked to tie awareness of their cause to a specific color (including Red for AIDS and heart disease, purple for Alzheimer’s or Crohn’s diseases, orange for multiple sclerosis, among many others.)
But no charitable group has been as successful in marketing its cause as the Komen Foundation, which has formed pink partnerships with a wide range of groups, from major sports leagues to fast-food companies to — really — a gunmaker, to promote breast cancer awareness. Click through the photo gallery for 11 pink Komen-branded products meant to raise funds and increase breast cancer awareness.
