Rett Mutchler fights the establishment by whining about how corporations have managed to even ruin breast cancer.

Nobody knows better than Portlanders that as soon as something goes mainstream, it sucks. This is usually because once someone has figured out how to make money off of something, it's no longer a good thing. And now it’s become increasingly clear that corporations have found something else to ruin: Charity.

The example I’d like to bitch about is the popularity (and ineffectiveness) of the Pink Ribbon Movement, which promotes breast cancer awareness. First of all, I’d like to assuage any concerns: we at the Rearguard are firmly pro-breast. That’s part of the reason I’m using it as an example — who could possibly object to fighting breast cancer? But there’s a problem with any type of charity. There's a story about a lawyer in Los Angeles who quit his job and started panhandling at a major intersection. Supposedly, he made more money panhandling than he did as an attorney. This tells me two things:

1) Never trust anyone from California, and

2) Whenever you have people who want to do the right thing and help someone, you have other people figuring out ways to exploit it and ruin things for those in need.

Companies will slap the pink ribbon logo on whatever terrible product they’re trying to sell, and then market it to you under the guise of donating a "portion of the proceeds.” This is where corporations and the pink ribbon concept in general have come under fire — often, the portion of money actually donated to breast cancer research is nothing more than a token sum. Meanwhile, the corporation gets to keep all of the extra profit; they exploit a good cause in order to sell a bunch of otherwise random junk that no one would buy, like mugs and pepper shakers.

It works because the pink ribbon isn’t actually copyrighted. Anyone can use it, and it’s an easy cause to rally behind. And while I use breast cancer as a specific example, it could just as easily be any cause that has universal support. The supposed benefit of these charities is that they raise “awareness” for breast cancer. Sure, that might make us all feel good inside, but what exactly does an “awareness” campaign actually do for cancer patients? I doubt that it’s anything volunteers or direct donations couldn’t do better. Besides, I’m not sure how much awareness is raised. I had a friend who wore a pink ribbon t-shirt that read “I Support Breast Cancer.” Way to educate the masses, guys.

So what’s the lesson today? It’s that feel-good "slacktivism" and “pinkwashed” consumerism does little to actually change the world for the better, and tends to line the pockets of people who don’t actually care. You want to make the world a better place? There are plenty of charities and organizations where you can volunteer your time. Or, if you’re too lazy, you can make a donation directly to a cancer foundation, or Haiti, or whatever, and skip the corporate middle-man. Granted, you won't get a pink ribbon pepper shaker, but you'll have actually done something to help — instead of just being "aware" that there's a problem.