By Reena Jana
The color has become an iconic brand symbol for breast cancer, and major companies continue to jump on the bandwagon.  Once associated generically with baby girls' booties and Barbie dolls, pale pink has increasingly come to represent a specific brand: awareness of breast cancer. It began in 1992, when Estee Lauder (EL ) cosmetic counters first gave away loops of pink ribbon to raise awareness of the disease that the American Cancer Society estimates will kill 40,970 women in 2006.

Altruism. Corporate responsibility. Philanthropy. These are often used to describe cause-related marketing, an activity in which businesses join with charities or causes to market an image, product, or service...

By Sandra Miniutti
June 1, 2004
Pink breast cancer ribbons appear on just about everything these days--from kitchen appliances, to shoes, to makeup, to candy. Affinity credit cards declare our personal charitable interests by allowing consumers to direct a percentage of their purchases to charity...