Catherine
Paneral
Jour 4460
Blog Three—Are
you sure you want to make that decision?
It is possible
Komen’s PR department has not slept since Tuesday.
If you don’t already know, Susan G. Komen announced on
Tuesday that they would be cutting ties with Planned Parenthood after five-years
of funding. The donations from Komen
were for breast exam funds. The announcement has created quite a mess for Komen’s
PR but has shined rays of sunlight down on Planned Parenthood.
I sense some utilitarianism with this case. Susan G Komen
thought they were doing the right thing by not supporting the Planned
Parenthood clinic locations that offered abortions. Unfortunately for Komen it
back fired and upset numerous donors who have taken their donations elsewhere,
specifically Planned Parenthood.
There was a great quote in the Huffington Post from
Stacey Tillman who has donated over $2,700 over the years to Susan G. Komen. She
is one of many who are altering her donation recipients. “I've had family members in financial difficulty
that have used Planned Parenthood for pap smears and breast cancer screenings.
They're getting my money now because they help the needy and the people who
fell through the cracks,” she says about her donation to Planned Parenthood
instead of Susan G. Komen.
Even congresswomen are upset about Komen’s choice. Senator Barbara Boxer from California said "I was perplexed and troubled to see
the decision by Susan G. Komen for the Cure to cut off funding for life-saving
breast cancer screenings through Planned Parenthood because of a political
witch hunt by House Republicans. I truly hope that they will reconsider this
decision and put the needs of women first.” This decision is really affecting
Komen’s support and image. Not too many people seem to be ok with this
decision. But is that a surprise?
Komen’s Connecticut
Affiliate Facebook page is under attack. Go see for yourself, https://www.facebook.com/komenct. They posted this statement in hopes to calm
the upset (previous) supporters: “The decision regarding the funding of Planned
Parenthood was made by Susan G. Komen for the Cure National Headquarters. Komen
for the Cure Connecticut enjoys a great partnership with Planned Parenthood,
and is currently funding Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. We
understand, and share, in the frustration around this situation. We hope that
any investigation prohibiting Planned Parenthood from receiving Komen grants is
promptly resolved." They voiced their peace for the situation but that is
no help for what other are posting on their page.
As if all that
wasn’t already enough, Komen’s website got hacked. Viewers were redirected to a
dummy site that replaced the first ad with the ad below it.
Is this
decision going to affect their future fundraising events if they don’t “fix”
this decision? Are supporters going to stop showing up to a Race for the Cure
event? How can Komen spin this? Are there more people upset than there
are positive supporters? Was Komen prepared for this negativity?
Komen gave
Planned Parenthood $680,000 in 2011 for breast examinations. According
to the Huffington Post, since Komen
announced the funding cut, Planned Parenthood has received donations from about
6,000 donors totaling $400,000. Did you see that coming? Maybe Planned
Parenthood doesn’t need Komen.
Did this
decision result in unintentional good PR? Planned Parenthood has seen quite an
increase in women scheduling breast examinations since Komen’s announcement. Do
you think they ever expected the breast cancer awareness levels to increase
after cutting off funding?
Sources:
Susan G. Komen
Loses Support After Planned Parenthood Decision: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/susan-g-komen_n_1247262.html
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