This thread has slid out of control We are talking about breast cancer here. Something I think we would be glad to see be cured.
Just because someone doesn't contribute to a particular charity in a way that you might doesn't mean they don't endorse the charity's goal or mission. It also is not cool to swear at him, or to say I would never buy that, donate to that, etc. What people do is there own business. And what people donate or do not donate to is almost always is driven by very personal reasons. As I mentioned I, like almost everyone after a certain age, have / had a family member or close friend effected by cancer. I also, like everyone else, get hit up by everyone for money. And like 99.9% of those that frequent this group if I had lots of money, I would give away lots of money - I don't so I have to choose my charity(s). That doesn't mean I don't wish the (put your charity/cause here) the best of luck. When asked I politely tell them that we are donating our money other places.
That being said about this whole pink hammer debate:
I live in the Boston area and there was a big breast cancer walk this past weekend. Part of the story on the local news was that some survivors are getting sick of the whole "pink" thing. They believe that some companies are using only as a marketing ploy and you are better off to just donate to the charity. Some companies may do that.
There are definately better ways to donate to a cause than buying a product and having some % of the sale go to a cause. But, maybe some person is going into ACE to buy a hammer that will only be used to hang a few pictures and they say "Hey I get a hammer I need and a buck goes to breast cancer research" or maybe that person has a connection to the disease and just feels better by buying that hammer. The only one who knows is that person.
Also, after the purchase is a buck more than the breast cancer research group had before he bought the hammer. After being involved in fundraising for most of my adult life. The saying; "the big donations make the papers, the little ones make the difference" is partly true. Although both are equally important.
Are pink hammers, football cleats, baseball bats, etc. going to help increase awareness and raise more money to help cure this and hopefully / eventually all cancers. I do not know, but those that deal with it everyday seem to think so.
I do know that fighting about it will not.
I have a sorta woodworking question above. Lets deal with that.
This was a long post.
Larry C