Think Before You Pink

When in the Upper Midwest, I frequently patronize Caribou Coffee, a chain of coffee shops I refer to as my “office.” I like working on my laptop in the relaxing atmosphere plus most Caribou locations give free refills of their Coffee of the Day. Because I prefer light or medium roast coffee, I usually show up at Caribou in the morning since they sometimes serve only dark roast later in the day.

For now, I’ve temporarily cut back on my visits to Caribou Coffee. This time of the year they heavily promote Amy’s Blend, a coffee flavor that is (in my opinion) very overrated. Amy’s Blend is named after Caribou’s original roastmaster Amy Erickson who died of breast cancer in 1995. In addition to coffee, Caribou sells mugs, tumblers, and related merchandise as a tribute to Amy. Their website states: “Every October for the past 19 years, Caribou Coffee has donated 10% of retail coffeehouse proceeds from Amy’s products to support women and men impacted by cancer in Caribou communities.”

Certainly, we should be compassionate towards those affected by breast cancer. Still, I’m a bit turned off by the “pinkwashing” of society. Pink ribbons to raise awareness appear in a variety of places. Some NFL players wear pink apparel during games. Many products have been colored pink…even buckets of fried chicken (which ironically has been linked to breast cancer). 

Controversies have also arisen regarding CEO salaries of breast cancer foundations and how much of their donations go toward finding a cure. That inspired the formation of one organization called Think Before You Pink.

Another organization fighting breast cancer calls itself Save the Ta-Ta’s. From an eternal perspective, it would be more fruitful to save souls by leading them to El Shaddai, which has been translated as “the Many Breasted One.” There are testimonies of women who overcame breast cancer through prayer and changing their diet such as this one. 

We can rejoice if medical research finds a cure for cancer as long as it doesn’t result in negative side effects. Sadly, many drugs cause more problems than they solve. Instead of spending large sums of money on chemotherapy and other experimental treatments, I encourage those diagnosed with cancer to seek the Great Physician who will heal their diseases if they call out to Him.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases” - Psalm 103:2-3