Outraged by Pink Buckets to "Cure Cancer"

Dear KFC and Susan G. Komen for the Cure,

I am greatly disturbed by your current Buckets for the Cure campaign.  Partnering with a fast food chain just because it will reach a high number of people, does not make this campaign a moral one.  This does not justify the means to an end:  claiming to raise a great amount of money on the back of large companies to eradicate cancer.  It is unethical to direct people to choose a fast food option and promote unhealthy living while at the same time making claims to save lives.  You are not telling people to ONLY buy the "healthy" choices to support your cause.  I have researched the contents of the food offered at KFC and it is a simple fact that while the so-called healthier options contain less sodium and fat than what is offered on the rest of the menu, these options are not in fact "healthy".  Using the words "healthier, less fat, fewer calories", and so on deceives people. 

I have written to you in protest and have received several of your formed letters.  Part of your response states:

"We recognize that this partnership also brings up a conversation about
obesity and health related to cancer. Our partnership highlights the healthy
options at KFC - grilled chicken and vegetables, for example - although
ultimately, we believe that the decision to maintain a well-balanced diet
lies in the hands of the consumer."

Basically you are saying; you will get a large funding source at the expense of people's ignorance of their health.   This campaign has raised quite a stir as I have seen on several websites, blogs, emails and personal conversations with my own network.     As a (cancer patient, caregiver, or person concerned with cancer) I am angry with this campaign no matter how large the masses it will "reach".  While it is not necessarily a fact that more people will buy this fast food because they want to cure cancer, it goes without saying that many who already consume KFC will be deceived into feeling what they are consuming is for a greater good.  Thanks to research that discovered people are more likely to buy something if they think they are being helpful.  The health crisis in America and world over has not come to the current state by eating "healthy" fast food.  While portions may be smaller, less or different oils and salts used in these "healthier" options, fast food is not healthy.  They only compare their "healthier" options against their own menu; not a proven healthy diet.

Many who receive the  breast cancer diagnosis are encouraged to join your organization and the promotion is relentless.  It is thrown at those suffering as a club they should be "dying" to join.  While on one level, groups like yours represent something positive and serve as a gathering force, your claims and partnerships are not consistent with fighting cancer.  You only support the provision of mammogram testing in women over forty as claiming to "save lives".  Mammograms do not save lives, nor do they detect cancer in all afflicted with this disease, especially the younger population.  There are alternative testing options that are safer and available such as Ultrasound.  Promoting testing and screening that misses  and misunderstands a good portion of those affected by breast cancer is also deceptive in "claiming to save lives". 

People need a tool that enables those suffering to gather with a common "hat".  To be a part of something.  To not feel alone.  But it's more than that, it's that people need to take charge and do something.  As a cancer patient or caregiver, it becomes a connection with others.  I cannot however support your organization no matter your claims when your partnerships are not consistent with healthy living and are pleasantly deceptive.  I would like to think and trust that an organization that claims to be helping find a cure for cancer, in its moral mind would not support things that are not healthy and contribute to cancer itself.  In addition, I feel your responses to my protests consign morality placing responsibility on your audience for "individual conscience".   I am disturbed by your attitude that absolves  your organization from the greater moral obligation for the price of  your public's support.

I still believe that people as a group need a common cause to not feel alone and feel encouraged.  When people do the walks, that is what I see.  The hearts of people.  Ask them why they attended, your response will be that they are there because they love someone affected by this disease.  Selling buckets of grease has made a mockery of a disease that is serious and cruel.  I and many of those joining with me are afflicted by this disease or love someone working hard to survive.  I am deeply disturbed by your continued closed minded responses to the very audience you are claiming to cure and save by supporting things that contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle and contribute to the disease of cancer itself. 

Instead of partnering with a corporation that sells unhealthy food, I believe that Susan G. Komen for the Cure should work with companies that do not contribute to the breast cancer epidemic.