NFL: It’s Pink Propaganda

Should the NFL be giving more to the ACS during the campaign “A Crucial Catch”?

As is typical in this day and age, there’s cynicism around someone doing good, and in this case, it’s the NFL and it’s month long campaign “A Crucial Catch”. Reports speculate that 11% of revenue generated by this campaign is given to the ACS (American Cancer Society) and up to 50% in to the NFL’s already large pockets.

For those unaware of what this campaign is: during the month of October (breast cancer awareness month) the NFL, players, referees, cheerleaders, etc. all sport the color pink to both bring awareness as well as to raise money. This campaign has taken place every October since 2008, and has even seen other leagues (MLB) do their own take on it. Money is raised by selling this pink merchandise and then giving a percentage of sales to the ACS.

So what seems to be the problem? The argument is that the NFL is making money off of this marketing ploy, money that shouldn’t be going into their pockets, but money that should be going to the ACS, or worse yet, the NFL should be giving more. Let the cynics cry out!

If you want to follow the money, take a look at this article to better understand the picture http://www.businessinsider.com/small-amount-of-money-from-pink-nfl-merchandise-goes-to-breast-cancer-research-2013-10

This arguments foundation is that the NFL is solely doing this campaign to generate money to then give to the ACS thus forgetting about the idea of raising awareness.

Let’s look at some numbers. At any given time on a Sunday, there are nearly 20 million viewers, and if your house is like mine, there’s a game on the TV every minute of every Sunday the season is going, something my wife can’t ignore. That means that each week, there’s the potential to reach tens of millions of women, the sex primarily directly affected by breast cancer. “What’s with all the pink?” is a question I’ve heard several times since 2008. That is how you raise awareness.

Another point to be made in all this is that the NFL doesn’t have to do this. Assume that all the numbers are right, this means that by selling this pink gear, the NFL pocketed around 14 million pink dollars in 2012. $14 million out of $9.5 billion in 2012, that’s a mere 0.15% of their total revenue. Now, if they’re taking 1/4 of their regular season and using it as a major marketing stunt, I think they could probably make a little more coin. Hell, just do what Nike does with the University of Oregon and sell 16 different jersey variants, if of course all they’re trying to do is sell pink.

Sure, they made $9.5 billion last year and only gave $1.5 million to ACS, just peanuts. But what did you give last year to fight cancer? Isn’t $1.5 million a whole lot better than $0, which is probably where it was prior to 2008. And if you’re watching the NFL to help out a cause, maybe you’re the one suffering from head injuries.

It’s clearly not for the money, for either the ACS or the NFL. So back to the mythical idea of “awareness”. Sure, we all know about cancer, especially breast cancer, so why does it have to be jammed down our throats with this pink propaganda? To put it simply, awareness saves lives. Of course, we need to continue to find a cure, but when breast cancer is caught early, the five year survival rate is increased to 98%. Sometimes, just a simple reminder to get an exam could save yours or somebody else’s life. Knowing that sometimes, all it takes to Fuck Cancer is catching it early, that’s the road you want to take.

Now I’ll leave you with homework, watch the video below, and then read this article from last year, which chooses the side argued against in this post. Then come back and let me know what you think.