10.01.21
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Estee Lauder Companies (ELC) has announced its launch of a Campaign to help in the fight against the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide.
ELC will launch a new social media call to action to encourage engagement from supporters worldwide to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) through the simple action of wearing a favorite pink lipstick, drawing a ribbon, sharing personal stories using the hashtags #TimeToEndBreastCancer and #ELCdonates and tagging up to five people to participate. For every public, in-feed Instagram or Facebook post during the month of October featuring both #TimeToEndBreastCancer and #ELCdonates together, @esteelaudercompanies will donate $25 to @bcrfcure up to $150,000.
“The Estée Lauder Companies’ success is deeply rooted in our core values and the positive impact we have on our employees, our communities and the planet,” said Fabrizio Freda, president and chief executive officer, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. “The Breast Cancer Campaign is an authentic cornerstone of our commitments to being a Beauty Inspired, Values Driven company and we will continue our work to drive positive change for the breast cancer community and beyond.”
The company will reinforce and build upon its legacy of breast cancer funding and furthering the company’s commitment to racial equity. The company and the Lauder family will invest $1 million over two years towards research to help eliminate breast cancer disparities. Through grants with BCRF, two important new initiatives will be supported.
This year, 19 of ELC brands will support The Campaign's mission. Each will sell Pink Ribbon Products or make donations to BCRF and/or other charitable organizations around the world.
They are: Aerin, Aveda, Bobbi Brown, Bumble and bumble, Clinique, Darphin, DKNY, Donna Karan, Dr. Jart+, Estée Lauder, Glamglow, Jo Malone London, La Mer, Lab Series, Michael Kors, Origins, Smashbox, Tom Ford Beauty, and Too Faced.
With illuminated buildings, monuments, and landmarks worldwide in glowing pink lights to raise awareness of breast health, including the Empire State Building, New York City and the Eiffel Tower, Paris, employees will mobilize worldwide to positively impact communities and unite in action to support more than 60 breast cancer organizations around the world. World-class experts will convene to education on the importance of breast health, will the company continues to produce and distribute literature and Pink Ribbons worldwide and drive donations to the BCRF through ELCompanies.com/BreastCancerCampaign.
“Family values are and have always been at the core of The Estée Lauder Companies,” said William P. Lauder, executive chairman of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. “When my mother, Evelyn H. Lauder, started The Estée Lauder Companies’ Breast Cancer Campaign and co-created the Pink Ribbon, she had a vision of a breast cancer-free world. The Campaign remains unwavering in its mission to help end breast cancer.”
ELC has been a corporate leader in the global breast cancer movement since Evelyn Lauder co-created the Pink Ribbon and started The Campaign in 1992. The Campaign currently supports more than 60 organizations around the globe to raise funds, educate, support and bring people closer to a world without breast cancer. As the company’s largest corporate social impact program, The Campaign has raised more than $99 million globally for lifesaving research, education, and medical services, with more than $80 million funding 321 medical research grants through the BCRF, the highest-rated nonprofit breast cancer organization in the U.S. founded by Evelyn H. Lauder in 1993.
BCRF’s mission is to prevent and cure breast cancer by advancing the world's most promising research. The BCRF research grants funded by The Campaign span the continuum of breast cancer research, from studying the basic biology of how healthy cells go awry and become cancerous, to developing new diagnostic tests and treatments, to conducting research to improve a patient’s quality of life both during and after treatment.
Female breast cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide—surpassing lung cancer for the first time in 2020, with an estimated 2.3 million new cases. This sobering statistic has reaffirmed ELC’s Breast Cancer Campaign’s mission to unite people to create a breast cancer-free world.
Elizabeth Hurley, the longstanding global ambassador for The Campaign shared, said her role with the Campaign is her life’s most meaningful work.
“I joined Evelyn to work on The Campaign shortly after she started it in the early 1990’s,” she said. “Over the years, I’ve seen the powerful impact The Estée Lauder Companies has had on the global breast cancer community, including groundbreaking progress made through the research The Campaign has funded to advance science, treatments, and care. We must carry on Evelyn’s legacy and come together in support of The Campaign and help to find a cure for this disease.”
While the company believes great strides have been made to fight the disease (mortality rates have decreased in the U.S. by 41% among women since 1989 because of earlier detection and improved treatment) the work continues. Breast cancer is a disease that affects all, but not always equally. The Campaign will continue to address breast cancer disparities that exist for minority and other vulnerable groups through funded research with BCRF and various NGOs around the world.