Business/Finance

Komen/Planned Parenthood controversy: why haven't we heard from Komen's corporate sponsors?

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Corporate sponsorship is important for a great many of America’s non-profits, and that’s certainly true of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Of course, any time you strike an alliance with another entity, you can’t help assuming some of their risk. Your partner jumps the tracks, all of a sudden people are looking at you even though you didn’t do anything wrong.

I tend to believe that Komen’s sponsors had nothing but the best intentions in donating their time and money to supporting a worthy cause. However, I also can’t help noticing that I haven’t heard a peep out of any of them regarding the foundation’s appalling decision to de-fund Planned Parenthood, an entity that doesn’t harness its public health mission to partisan prerequisites.

I can also guarantee you that the PR groups and agencies charged with representing the brands of these sponsoring organizations have been holding their collective breath, desperately praying that this will all blow over and nobody will notice them.

Fat chance. Here’s a list of Komen’s corporate sponsors. If you patronize any of these companies, perhaps you might consider asking them what they think of Komen’s behavior over the past couple of weeks.

  • 3M
  • ACH Food Companies: Bake for the Cure
  • Acushnet – Titleist, Pinnacle and FootJoy Worldwide
  • American Airlines
  • American Blue Ribbon Holdings
  • Anchor Bay Entertainment
  • Ansell Healthcare Products LLC
  • Aquage (SalonQuest, LLC)
  • Arizona AFO
  • Armouth International
  • Ask.com
  • Avcor Healthcare Products, Inc.
  • Balance Walking by Foot Solutions
  • Bank of America
  • BCBG MAXAZRIA and ClearVision Optical
  • Belk
  • Berkley Packaging Company, Inc.
  • BIC USA Inc.
  • Boar’s Head Provisions Co., Inc.
  • BoConcept USA, Inc.
  • Boots Retail USA, Inc
  • Boston Proper
  • Boston Warehouse
  • Bowl for the Cure
  • Brinker International
  • Brown Shoe Company
  • Caché
  • California Pear Advisory Board
  • Caltrate
  • Canari Cyclewear
  • Candy Coburn – Pink Warrior
  • Caribou Coffee Company, Inc.
  • Carlisle Collection, Ltd
  • Caterpillar
  • Century Payments
  • Charlotte Motor Speedway and The Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage
  • Chasing Fireflies
  • Chesapeake Bay Candle Co
  • Citizen Watch Company of America
  • Clean Ones Corporation
  • Coldwater Creek
  • Collegiate Shipping Products, LLC
  • Crayola
  • Dallas Cowboys – I Promise
  • Dell
  • Deluxe Checks
  • Deuce Brand
  • Dots
  • DS Waters
  • Eggland’s Best, Inc.
  • Emdeon
  • Energizer
  • EuroBlooms
  • Evian
  • Evite and Postmark
  • Exercise TV
  • Exhale Enterprises, Inc.
  • Fable Designs, Inc
  • Feld Entertainment’s Disney on Ice presents Treasure Trove and Dare to Dream
  • Ford Gum
  • Ford Motor Company
  • Forever 21
  • Fragrance Marketing Group
  • Freed’s Bakery, LLC
  • FUZE and Honest Tea
  • Garden State Growers
  • General Growth Properties
  • General Mills Pink Together
  • Georgia-Pacific
  • Global Filtration
  • Globe Electric
  • Goldtouch
  • Graphique de France
  • GUESS
  • GUESS by Marciano
  • Hallmark Gold Crown Stores
  • Hampshire Designers
  • Hand & Nail Harmony
  • Hanesbrands
  • Helzberg Diamonds
  • Hewlett-Packard
  • Holland America Line
  • HSN – Shop for the Cure®
  • HUE
  • Hunter Boot USA, LLC
  • Igloo
  • Inliten
  • Interfresh, Inc.
  • IOGEAR
  • J. Berry Nursery
  • Jason Aldean
  • Jersey Mike’s Subs
  • Kelly Gale Amen Design
  • Kent International, Inc.
  • Kentucky Oaks Ladies First
  • Key Brands International
  • KeyBank Foundation
  • King’s Hawaiian Bakery West, Inc.
  • KitchenAid
  • Kobian USA, Inc.
  • Koch Filter Corporation
  • Koi Design
  • Kyocera
  • La Madeleine
  • LaCroix Sparkling Water
  • Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA)
  • Liberty Mutual
  • LIFE Event-The Val Skinner Foundation
  • Louisville Stoneware
  • Lowe’s Companies, Inc
  • LPGA Golf Clinics for Women
  • Magaschoni
  • Major League Baseball
  • McAlister’s Deli
  • MD Jockey Club – Preakness
  • MegaGoods, Inc.
  • Merck Consumer Care
  • Meredith Corporation
  • Microsoft
  • Mobile Edge
  • Mohawk Flooring – Decorate for the Cure
  • Mottega
  • Mrs. Baird’s Bakeries
  • Napa Valley Naturals
  • Nature’s Flowers
  • NBC Today Show
  • Nestle Purina PetCare Company
  • New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.
  • New Global Charities
  • NKOTB
  • Nordstrom
  • North American Licensing Company
  • Not Your Daughter’s Jeans
  • Nuun
  • Oil Can Henry’s
  • Old Navy
  • On The Border – Fiesta for the Cure™
  • Opal Orthodontics by Ultradent
  • OPI
  • Oracle Giving Commitment Grant
  • Oreck
  • Oregon Cherry Growers, Inc.
  • Oriental Trading Company
  • Otis Spunkmeyer, Inc.
  • Palmer’s
  • Pandora Jewelry
  • Paris Accessories, Inc (MMG Corporation)
  • Payless ShoeSource
  • Philips Consumer Lifestyle
  • Pink Ribbon Produce
  • PNY
  • Pottery Barn Kids
  • Premium Outlets
  • Pretzel Crisps
  • Princess Cruises Community Foundation
  • Prolacta Bioscience
  • Provide Commerce
  • Rally for the Cure®
  • Redken
  • REMAX
  • RiceSelect
  • Rich Products Corporation
  • Robinson Home Products
  • Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc.
  • Samsung Electronics Europe
  • Santa Barbara Design Studio and Designs by Lolita
  • Sarah Fisher Racing
  • Savvi Formalwear
  • SELF Magazine
  • ShoeDazzle
  • Shoutback Concepts – Deals for the Cure
  • Shuman Produce, Inc.
  • Simon Malls
  • SodaStream
  • Specialized Bicycle Components
  • Springs Global
  • Stein Mart
  • Stylemark, Inc.
  • Sy Kessler Sales, Inc.
  • Teasdale Quality Foods
  • Testing
  • The Hillman Group
  • The Mohawk Group – Specify for a Cure
  • The Republic of Tea
  • Trident Seafoods Corporation
  • True Religion Brand Jeans
  • Tubbs Romp to Stomp Snowshoe Series
  • U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation
  • Verbatim
  • Wacoal America
  • Walgreens
  • Wells Lamont
  • Woman Within
  • Yoplait USA
  • Young Dental
  • Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity
  • Zumba Fitness

Thanks to Deanna Pierce for the story idea.

Categories: Business/Finance, Health, Politics/Law/Government

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2 replies »

  1. An article that might pique your interest in this regard: Is Susan G. Komen Denying the BPA-Breast Cancer Link?
    http://motherjones.com/environment/2011/09/breast-cancer-komen-bpa?page=1

    “Another manufacturing company, 3M, maker of of Scotch Tape, has donated more than $1 million since 2007 and is a member of the American Chemistry Council, a powerful trade group that argues that BPA is safe. Komen also has a partnership with DS Waters, which delivers the type of water bottle cooler that you’re likely to find in an office setting, The bottles get a pink cap for the Komen partnership, but Komen doesn’t mention that those pink-topped bottles are made from polycarbonate plastic that contains BPA.”

    On that basis alone I have a hard time being generous about the character of corporate donors and their intentions. Then I consider my own work experience as it has occasionally overlapped with “development” (fund raising). Generally, I’ve seen three trends in corporate giving rationale: 1) good money spent on positive PR …as long as the recipient plays on the heart strings; 2) good money spent on damage control to buy back good will (e.g., Tommy Hilfiger, famously of the “our fashions aren’t for black people” gaffe, giving to the MLK Memorial; 3) good money spent on desired outcomes, such as a “determination” that BPA is “safe.”

  2. There’s also a bunch of companies who provide financial matching and support their employees who want to walk in Komen 3-days. German shipper/delivery company DHL, for example.