While it has worked as a general rule for me to keep the "executive" part of my own life distinct from Executive Moms, October is the one time a year for which an exception seems warranted. In my (day job) capacity working for The Estée Lauder Companies, one of the greatest things in which I get to be involved is the company’s tremendous effort around Breast Cancer Awareness. The company has been committed to this cause since 1992, when Evelyn Lauder actually co-created the now iconic pink ribbon symbol (interesting trivia, yes)? Since then over 85 million pink ribbons have been distributed and millions of dollars have been raised to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. While there are so many worthy activities around this form of cancer that has such a pervasive impact on women, allow me to share three great facets of our World Pink campaign, with the hope that you can in turn pass it on, and help make a difference:
The World Pink Mosaic…
This year, the centerpiece of The Estée Lauder Companies’ Breast Cancer Awareness campaign online is the World Pink Mosaic, which stands to be the world’s largest virtual photo mosaic of faces of every race, color and creed, all singularly united in support of breast cancer awareness. Anyone can participate in this virtual tapestry: you simply upload your photo (write a few words if you wish), and you can frame yourself as either a Supporter, someone specifically Touched By breast cancer… or an actual Survivor. Once you add your piece to the tapestry… there are sharing buttons so that you can post it to your Facebook page, Twitter, or email your friends and family. The campaign launched a week ago, and amazingly, it has already traveled to almost every corner of the world; women have been engaging with the Mosaic everywhere from Nepal to Cameroon to Uruguay to Pakistan. (Now it’s your turn).
If you are on Twitter, you can also follow the campaign at www.twitter.com/worldpink2009.
Visit and be a part of the World Pink Mosaic
Global Landmark Illuminations…
While the online effort above is especially close to my heart, it bears noting that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the company’s Global Landmark Illumination initiative, under which some of the world’s most prominent landmarks have been lit pink to spread the message of awareness and hope — everything from the Empire State Building to the Leaning Tower of Pisa to the Sydney Opera House to the Taj Mahal. (Love the idea of getting all their respective politicians to agree to this). Over 200 major landmarks are being lit this month, such as the now famous China Water Cube (shown), JFK airport, Bloomingdales and the Time Warner Center in New York, and many more. Keep your eyes open…
Shop Pink…
This is a particularly good month to shop for yourself and support a great cause at the same time. Many retailers have created shopping programs tied to supporting Breast Cancer. On the Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s website, you can find a gallery of "pink" products – often limited edition items from which a portion of their sales is donated to fund breast cancer research. You can find products from fifteen participating Estée Lauder Companies brands, like Aveda Hand Relief, Jo Malone Red Roses cologne, Origins Peace of Mind On-the-spot relief, and an Evelyn Lauder Lip Set from the Estée Lauder brand (shown). There are also products from a range of other categories and companies, including jewelry, travel, games, food and fashion.
Now, we just need to get to the point where none of this is necessary…