Our Identity
Why Not Pink?
Why you won't see pink in our logo — and what we chose instead.
While Breast Connect supports anyone with breast cancer, you won't see pink in our logo, and rarely at our events.
So, why not pink?
The answer goes back to the early days of Breast Connect.
When Nina Reineri founded Breast Connect in 2014, then-Vice President Allen Pannell had recently lost his wife to metastatic breast cancer. Nina and Allen began attending metastatic breast cancer conferences, where they listened to patients, advocates, and families. It was there that they began to understand that the color pink doesn't always feel positive or celebratory to everyone in the breast cancer community.
For decades, pink ribbons, pink clothing, and highly visible campaigns have become synonymous with breast cancer awareness. But for many people living with metastatic breast cancer — the only stage considered incurable — the sea of pink is not their reality. While the color pink has generated enormous attention for breast cancer awareness and the importance of mammograms, the metastatic community has long fought for something more: greater research and funding focused on extending lives and ultimately finding a cure.
The term we learned
"Pinkwashing"
When a company uses the pink ribbon or breast cancer messaging to market a product or appear to support the cause while providing little meaningful support to breast cancer patients, programs, or research. Additionally, companies will promote and sell pink-ribbon products that contain ingredients that raise health or cancer concerns.
And then there's October. During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, pink is everywhere. Products turn pink, storefronts turn pink, and ribbons appear in marketing. But seeing pink doesn't necessarily mean a company is giving back to the breast cancer community. Often, pink is simply marketing.
For Breast Connect, choosing not to center our identity around pink is a small but meaningful way of honoring what we learned from the metastatic community. It isn't because we dislike the color or what it means to many people. It's because, from the beginning, we wanted Breast Connect to be about something more than awareness. Our focus is on the women themselves — their experiences, their needs, and making sure that ALL feel supported throughout every stage of breast cancer.