The Better Business Bureau is advising consumers to be careful when buying pink products for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Many products can now be purchased in pink, and many companies and businesses donate a certain percentage of proceeds to breast cancer research and other legitimate charities. Other companies only offer vague claims.
The BBB’s Chris Thetford said consumers should inspect the packaging to see what charities they are supporting and what percentage of the purchase price actually goes to the charity. Other products don’t offer that information. Thetford said when the BBB attempted to contact those companies to ask which charities they support, they couldn’t get that information.
“If you see products where they’re not listing which charity that the purchase is benefitting, or they’re not telling you what percentage of the purchase price is going to that charity, those are red flags that consumers should watch for,” Thetford said.
Thetford could not specify which companies did not provide the BBB information about where the breast cancer proceeds would go.
“It makes it a challenge this time of the year. Clearly, marketers understand that people are attuned
that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You walk into a store, there are lots of pink products. You need to look carefully if you’re buying these items because you really do want to help breast cancer charities,” Thetford said.