It drives me crazy every October when I see the Yoplait Yogurt ads for their “Pink Ribbon/Lids Breast Cancer” marketing ploy.
My biggest problem with Yoplait’s Pink Lid promotion, besides the obvious trick to gain more sales, is that highly processed, highly sugary food products like Yoplait Yogurt could possibly be one of the factors that increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer in the first place!
So to reiterate, they want you to buy (and consume) more of their sugary, chemical laden yogurts, just so they can send out (up to) $2 million for a cure for the same cancer that they possibly could be causing! It makes me crazy when I think about it!
Yoplait, why don’t you keep that $2 million and IMPROVE your own products so they are not loaded with sweeteners (including artificial) and unpronounceable chemicals and other highly processed junk!
It’s food products from companies like Yoplait that are making American’s obese and ill! When are we going to open our eyes to these huge marketing scams and just SAY NO!
COULDN’T AGREE MORE!!! The utter pointlessness of these cause marketing infuriates me. Not to mention that in the case of Yoplait, consumers have to MAIL IN the foil container covers…many purchases probably erroneously believe that just buying the crappy product = contribution to “the cause,” and how many of those who realize the tops need to be mailed in actually take the time to wash, collect, and mail them back to the company to ensure the donation is made?
Oh thank you Norma! You are so right! I didn’t even think about the people that didn’t realize they need to mail in the lids, thinking they are doing a good thing by just BUYING the product.
There is a way to apply the lids online on their website, but who has the time to enter in codes like that as well!
Plus, Yoplait has a limit of only 25 lids per person, so that’s one more thing that people might not realize unless they read the fine print.
Thank you for your comments!
PS. I am sure that Yoplait keeps track of how many Pink Lidded yogurts they manufactured vs how many actually get redeemed for their donation! They are laughing all the way to the bank!
I wrote a post about this a few weeks ago…walk into the supermarket and right in front of the PRODUCE SECTION is a big table with a pink party tablecloth and pink balloons piled high with pink frosted cookies, cupcakes and other random pink-festooned JUNK FOOD….makes perfect sense! It enrages me.
Norma, that is so gross!
Thank you for blogging this – as a breast cancer survivor, I am angered at the amount of pink ‘crap’ available for sale in every possible product on the shelves. It is shameless to promote a product that gives little to nothing to the ’cause’. This has become big business from the corporate down to the street vendor and all for the bottom line – their own financial interests. Why do consumers get sucked in? It’s because they are ignorant of the facts and in their desire to help out in the easiest way possible, they fall into that trap. Save your money and donate to cancer support systems and research. Stop buying products just because they are pink. Consumerism drives this frenzy every year and with no real cure in sight, it makes me wonder if anyone is interested in finding one now that the money has become the biggest lure.
Marita, thank you for commenting. Well said!
Sadly, I agree, it’s true that the money raised for a “cure” is wasted, and I don’t see a day that they will ever find a cure. They make too much money on treatment and detection. There are too many big salaries at stake to stop!
I wish you continued good health! Take care!
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