It probably hasn't left you unnoticed that October was the Breast Cancer Awareness Month supported by the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The stores were filled with pink products and even the Sydney Morning Herald printed out a ‘pink' edition.

As consumers we were overwhelmed with messages like "Help to fight breast cancer: drink Mount Franklin, eat Tim Tam, shower with Dove or buy a Volvo."

Breast Cancer Awareness Month was initially founded by Evelyn Lauder, vice president of cosmetics giant Estée Lauder, who was on the board of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital, in New York. In 1992 the hospital informed her that the lack of awareness was breast cancer's biggest problem. Evelyn decided to tackle this problem together with Alexandra Penney, then editor of ‘Self' magazine. Together they developed the pink ribbon and distributed hundreds of thousands of ribbons and ‘Breast Self-Exam' instruction cards at Estée Lauder counters across the United States. Sixteen years later, more than 60 million pink ribbons and even greater quantities of educational brochures have been given away around the world and the colour pink has become an international symbol in the fight against breast cancer.

I personally believe the colour pink has grown out to be more than only the symbol of breast cancer; it has become a powerful representative for corporate social responsibility. Mount Franklin, Arnott's biscuits, Tic Tac and Dove are a few among the many companies that boost their image by donating a portion of their ‘pink' products to breast cancer research.

Although it looks like every company can use the colour pink or the ribbon logo, they have to meet strict criteria according to chief executive of the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Sue Murray.

"The company has to commit to donating to us a certain amount of money," Ms Murray said. "For instance, Mount Franklin promised a minimum of $250,000 for the year".

"They also need to promise their product will be around for a certain amount of time. Longevity is very important in getting the pink message across".

The reason why the ‘pink' products are so successful amongst consumers is because most of us probably feel satisfied doing our part in fighting the disease by buying one of these products. But do we actually know how much of our money goes to breast cancer research?

Some companies show the amount per donation on the product but Dove for example only puts "A percentage of your purchase goes to this charity" on their pink packages.

An American based organisation called ‘Breast cancer action' decided to raise costumer's awareness by creating the ‘Think before you Pink campaign'. This campaign calls for more transparency and accountability by companies that take part in breast cancer fundraising, and encourages consumers to ask critical questions about pink ribbon promotions.

"Consumers deserve to know how -if at all- their pink ribbon purchases and participation in pink ribbon promotions will support ending the breast cancer epidemic," said Barbara Brenner, executive director of Breast Cancer Action.

"Companies with pink ribbon marketing campaigns need to be more transparent and accountable to people who buy their products".

"By empowering consumers, we can work together to hold companies accountable to people affected by breast cancer," Brenner said. "If shopping could prevent or cure breast cancer, we'd have done it by now. There are so many ways for people who care about this disease to get involved".

Someone who agrees on the ‘Think before you pink campaign' is Samantha King, writer of the book ‘Pink Ribbons Inc., Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy'.

In her book Ms. King traces how breast cancer has been transformed from an individual tragedy to a market-driven industry of survivorship supported by major companies.

"My concern is not with support per se, but with the particular forms of support that are marketed most heavily to concerned members of the public like shopping for pink ribbon products and participation in costly fundraising events," Ms King said. "These modes of approaching the disease, I believe, exploit the public's goodwill by making big promises that are not being fulfilled."

Some advocates for research into other diseases, worry the breast cancer movement is claiming the spotlight and money at the expense of other worthy causes.

When we look at the statistics provided by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare we see that 11,889 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year. But surprisingly enough, every year 13,526 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer.

So why does breast cancer get all this attention?

I personally believe there are a few reason why breast cancer gets so much more attention than other cancers. First of all women have aligned themselves behind the disease. They feel united and empowered in fighting a disease together that mainly affects women. The colour pink is a huge contribution in this process and represents the bond between women worldwide. Wearing the pink ribbon or buying ‘pink products' gives women the feeling they are helping other women to fight the disease.

Another important reason is the endorsement of breast cancer by celebrities. Olivia Newton John, Kylie Minogue, Christina Applegate and Delta Goodrem are a few among the many celebrities who support the breast cancer foundation, often even having survived the disease themselves. These celebrities gain a lot of media attention which brings breast cancer into the media a lot more than other forms of cancer.

This together with the pink philanthropy of large corporations has put breast cancer on top of the agenda and makes it the cancer with the most exposure and awareness. 

Although I agree that raising awareness for breast cancer is very important, I would personally prefer a more realistic image of the battle against it. Instead of being overwhelmed with pink products I would prefer to hear the real story of women who survived the disease. This aren't women who are wearing pretty pink dresses or eat pink Tim Tam's,  but women who have one or maybe no breast left and who are afraid of what the future will bring them.