Our society in the United States has gone from not talking about the ways in which cancer has touched our lives, to becoming extremely open to the practice of sharing personal stories and burdens with others . Today this is not the case at all and a lot has changed in cancer culture. The terminology has also changed. We call patients “survivors” (King, 2010). We wear certain symbols because of their latent and manifest meanings. In particular, the cancer ribbon has become “one of the most widely recognized symbols in the United States” (Harvey and Strahilevitz 2009). In the United States, consumers have been participating in a shopping storm for years with a specific theme: mindfulness. This is not a much publicly debated topic, presumably due to its nonprofit stature; however this is not a topic free from controversy. Illness, simply put, is something that should not be taken advantage of. There are many different approaches that can be taken to explain this phenomenon. The most noticeable, however, is through breast cancer awareness. Budgets that appear to dedicate a certain amount to research and prevention actually donate substantially less. The marketing tactics are misleading and the cancer ribbon and similar symbols are, in some cases, used as a tool to reinforce marketing campaigns. These symbols are taking on a different meaning than they were originally intended for. The tapes were originally intended to be a source of inspiration (Fernandez, 1998). The manifest meaning of the pink ribbon in our society is breast cancer awareness. The latent meanings have evolved immensely in the last 10 years and have new meaning. The pink ribbon has become a fashion statement, especially when flaunted on clothes... in the middle of paper... our help.' (Banks, 2013). This company recognizes that pink ribbons will still be a vital form of income for them as they sell them at different events, but they have welcomed this change with open arms (Banks, 2013). Now they have their own identity instead of blending in with the pink atmosphere of many breast cancer nonprofits. Not complying with earnings regulations is a scary concept for businesses and nonprofits alike. There are ways to keep the disease and cancer community strong and thriving without profiting from it. Companies have the opportunity to become independent from social norms and start a new movement to be innovative and break away from the color pink. There is nothing wrong with using pink, as long as you don't take advantage of consumers and are transparent about where the money goes and how much.