Pinkwashing Turns on Itself with Breast Cancer Awareness Gun

by Anne Landman — November 3, 2009 - 2:54pm
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Smith & Wesson Breast Cancer Awareness PistolOctober was Breast Cancer Awareness month, and the group Breast Cancer Action seized on the opportunity to promote its Think Before you Pink campaign to raise awareness of how companies are increasingly exploiting breast cancer as a marketing device to sell products -- some of which are actually harmful to women's health. Pink ribbon campaigns are offering up some bizarre, albeit benign products like a breast cancer awareness toaster and a breast cancer awareness floating Beer Pong table. But the most bizarre item yet to have a pink ribbon slapped on it must be Smith & Wesson's Pink Breast Cancer Awareness 9 mm Pistol, promoted by a woman named Julie Goloski, Smith and Wesson's Consumer Program Manager and a sharpshooter herself. Goloski is promoting S&W's breast cancer awareness pistol on her Facebook page, saying "October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Breast Cancer Awareness M&P’s are shipping to dealers. I am thrilled to have my name associated with such a worthy cause and one of my favorite firearms." According to a 2008 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, firearms are the second most common cause of violent deaths of women, accounting for 29.2% of all violent deaths among females in the U.S. in 2008.

Main Source: 
GunBroker.com, November 3, 2009

Comments

So a company making a

Submitted by ToddG (not verified) on November 3, 2009 - 11:34pm.

So a company making a donation to fight one of the most common causes of death, overall, because violent criminals sometimes use similar products to commit violent crimes? Would you complain about a clothing company giving a breast cancer donation because violent criminals wear clothes? What a horrible way to disrespect a young woman who made personal sacrifices for the good of breast cancer patients and survivors everywhere.

I am unclear as to Julie

Submitted by Anne Landman on November 5, 2009 - 8:21pm.

I am unclear as to Julie Goloski's "personal sacrifices" in the name of breast cancer.
Anne Landman

Let me help

Submitted by Web (not verified) on November 6, 2009 - 7:33am.

Julie is at the top of her sport. Do you play golf? She is like Tiger Woods. The model pistol that you find "bizzare" is the M&P 9 JG. It has been configured to specifications that Julie has set, and the JG stand for her initials. She ( like Tiger with Nike et. al.) has the right to a portion of the profits from the sale of the gun. That is money in her pocket, shes earned it. She has decided to give all proceedes from her share, to research. Wow, shes a cold hearted gun owner.

You missed the point

Submitted by Anne Landman on November 4, 2009 - 9:26am.

The point is, a company that manufactures a device that is one of the leading causes of death in women is trying to cloak itself in a "pink" campaign to help obscure that fact. This is corporate hogwash, roughly the equivalent of a cigarette maker selling a special pink cigarette for women, and then donating a tiny percentage of the profits from it to a women's lung cancer fund.

Anne Landman

Actually, *you* missed the point

Submitted by NatAtGirlsGuide (not verified) on February 15, 2011 - 4:53am.

If you look a little deeper, you'd know that Julie Goloski brought the idea of this firearm to Smith & Wesson. Not the other way around. She did so because a loved one suffered from cancer and she wanted to make a difference in her sphere of influence. Could there be a more noble motive?

Women are the fastest growing group of shooters out there and this was Julie's attempt at reaching out to them in an empowering way. It's a fantastic tool for more awareness. Though it's true that violence against women is a problem, your stats are seriously skewed. And incidentally, what better way to protect women against gun violence than by arming them in a safe and knowledgeable manner? This firearm is a win on all fronts. Do a little more research into the field and you just might find out that guns are a very good thing. Especially this one.

That has to be the most

Submitted by JeffB (not verified) on November 5, 2009 - 3:38pm.

That has to be the most ignorant post I have ever read. Why don't you try to back up your statements with facts? Its because you can't.

Here

Submitted by Gun Geek (not verified) on November 6, 2009 - 9:45am.

There are a lot of women who have used a firearm in self defense against abusive spouses, stalkers or home invasions. The information is out there. Before you say that someone cant back it up with FACT. You might want to check into it yourself. Here is one place you might find some info.

http://womenofcaliber.wordpress.com/

What about all the women

Submitted by DennisW (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 9:19pm.

What about all the women that have used guns to protect themselves from abusive ex husbands, boyfriends, and criminals?

There are probably millions of products natural and man made that may contribute to cancer. Does that mean they should refuse the money from the companies that make them.

I think you missed the

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 8:57pm.

I think you missed the point. Julie Goloski is a top competitor in the field of Practical shooting. She, and her sponsor (S&W) were attempting to get brand-placement recognition in support of breast cancer awareness.

Danica Patrick and the Indy Racing league support breast cancer awareness. Cars kill more females than guns. Maybe we should criticise them?

A missed point, redux

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 8:47pm.

It is a bit unfair to refer to Julie Goloski-Golob as a person who profiteers on on the Pink movement. Julie has contributed many donations to woman and children through the locks of love program, long before being honored by this signature firearm, with proceeds of said firearm being contributed to Breast Cancer Research and awareness. Her company, Smith and Wesson, has the largest program to empower women to become responsible firearms owners and users. Perhaps a bit of research would have gone a long way to vilify Julie G and Smith and Wesson before printing this obviously biased article. As we all know, there are two sides to every story.