Benjamin Sobieck's Blog, page 32
October 27, 2012
Article About Pinkwashing Takes Off
Shortly after releasing Maynard Soloman & the Bull$hit Cancer Awareness Campaign for the Kindle, I was invited to do a guest post about "pinkwashing" on crime writer Fiona Johnson's blog here. The editor of the Lake Minnetonka Patch online newspaper in Minnesota read the post and invited me to submit an article for his site.
I expanded on the original blog post, hitting the street and doing some research into a variety of pinkwashed products. How Pinkwashing is Hijacking Breast Cancer Awareness was published on the Lake Minnetonka Patch on Friday.
Now the article is being distributed to other Patch newspapers across the state, to the tune of about a dozen. It's taking off on social media, too, with people chiming in about the ridiculousness of pinkwashing. Seems they don't like being duped.
Even the organization that first coined the term "pinkwashing," Breast Cancer Action, got in touch with me, albeit to clarify how its definition of the word differs from mine.
What about you? Click here to read How Pinkwashing is Hijacking Breast Cancer Awareness.
October 25, 2012
How Pinkwashing is Hijacking Your Good Intentions - And Money
Ravioli do not need pink stripes to be tasty. Shoes don't need to be pink to protect your feet. Fried chicken does not need to come in pink buckets to wreck your cholesterol. And you do not need to feel guilty about skipping "pinkwashed" products.
It's a sham.
I have nothing against helping out breast cancer causes. But what I do oppose is using the pink color associated with breast cancer to mislead consumers. So should you.
It starts when a company pays a lump sum to a breast cancer charity. That'd be fine if things stopped there. But they don't.
The company then "pinkwashes" its product. If it's ravioli, they become pink ravioli. If it's shoes, they become pink shoes. You get the drift.
[image error]When a consumer goes shopping for ravioli, there's a pink product standing out against competing items. The theory goes that the consumer is more likely to pick the pinkwashed product. There's a perception that doing so helps breast cancer charities.
However, in many cases, not a single cent of that purchase actually goes to charity. It's just a marketing trick.
If this sounds too cynical to be true, don't doubt me. There's a package of Pasta Prima pink-striped ravioli in my freezer right now (pictured at left). Although the product sports a pink ribbon, there's a disclaimer on the package: "Pasta Prima is donating $20,000, regardless of purchase, to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation." It doesn't matter if I bought one or 1,000 packages. It wouldn't affect the donation.
According to ThinkBeforeYouPink.org, the Dansko shoe company did the same thing with pink clogs to the tune of a $25,000 donation.
Taking a different approach, KFC's Buckets for the Cure in 2010 donated 50 cents of each purchase to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. It raised a total of $4,249,539. I can't find a source for how many buckets that works out to, but my calculator says 8,499,078.
That's roughly 8.5 million buckets. Of fried chicken. "For the cure."
How can you make sure you're not getting grifted? Read the rest in my guest blog post at I Meant to Read That.
October 24, 2012
New: Maynard Soloman & the Bull$hit Cancer Awareness Campaign
Maynard Soloman & the Bull$hit Cancer Awareness Campaign
Has cancer awareness "jumped the shark?" Have some cancer charities lost sight of their purpose?
Maynard Soloman, the world's crustiest detective, gets to the bottom of things in this short crime humor story. The cantankerous hero is hired to track down money missing from a cancer charity. What he finds could "blow the wig" off the entire organization.
This is the perfect read for anyone who has questioned the motives behind pinkwashed products.
BONUS: Includes Maynard's Guide to Charitable Giving.
Click here to get Maynard Soloman & the Bull$hit Cancer Awareness Campaign for Kindle for 99 cents.
October 21, 2012
Sign Up for Newsletter, Get Free E-Book
I'll be sending out an e-newsletter later this week. Here's why you'll want to sign up for it:
* Newsletter subscribers are the first to know about new releases.
* There are links to free e-books in every newsletter.
* You'll get a free e-book, 4 Odd Crime Stories, instantly sent to your inbox after signing up for the newsletter.
* The newsletter is and always will be free.
Click here to sign up to get my e-newsletter.
October 19, 2012
Coming: Maynard Soloman & the Bull$hit Cancer Awareness Campaign
Watch for the crime humor short story, Maynard Soloman & the Bull$hit Cancer Awareness Campaign, to hit Kindles and the rest soon. I'd explain the concept of this seventh crime humor short story of the series, but I think the title gives the gist of it.
Note: That's not a pink awareness ribbon. It's mauve. OK? OK. Don't sue me.
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October 13, 2012
Breaking News! Maynard Soloman Meets the Breathe Right Strip Company
The next Maynard story will open with this very line, in fact.
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Video: How Shale Oil Fracking Works
As mentioned in this post, my next crime thriller novel is set in the Bakken oil patch of North Dakota. The boom there is bringing oil companies and workers from across North America. They're using a practice called "fracking" to extract oil out of shale.
There's a lot of misinformation about fracking out there, both for and against. This Snopes article dishes them out pretty well. While there are environmental concerns with any mining operation, the benefits of the oil boom in North Dakota are also on a lot of minds. The state has such a budget surplus, voters considered doing away with property taxes.
The measure failed last year, but it highlights an important point. Fracking radically transformed North Dakota. It changed the land, the demographics and possibly the direction of an entire country. It's important to understand what the process entails. Energy independence is a big issue this election season, and fracking will come up.
What do you think about this process? Does the potential for water contamination make the process too risky? Or are the economic and energy independence issues too important to not use fracking?
October 11, 2012
Top Reads for Halloween
The writing/reading blog A Knife and a Quill is running a series on Halloween reads. A bunch of authors, many of them my writer buds, are submitting their picks.
It's a cool idea for this time of year. Click here to check it out.
What are some of your Halloween reads?
October 10, 2012
Read the First Scene of the Cleansing Eden Screenplay
As mentioned on my facebook page and elsewhere, Cleansing Eden: The Celebrity Murders is being adapted into a screenplay.
Not by me, mind you, since I have no idea how to write for the screen. By Bob Yates, a screenwriter who's actually gotten somewhere in Hollywood. Back in the day, he was also a ubiquitous talk radio host in Minnesota. As a bonus, I didn't even have to twist his arm to adapt it.
There are a couple reasons Yates said Cleansing Eden was saleable:
1) The story is presented in linear format, which makes it easier to adapt. Unlike books, it's more difficult for film to jump around time-wise. This makes the screenwriter's "carpentry" easier.
2) It could be shot entirely in Los Angeles. This is something I'd never thought of before, because I've not pitched a movie. Producers/studios taking a chance on a film don't want to fly all around the world to do it. Not unless you're a guaranteed money-maker. (Which, I'm more than willing to admit, I'm not). A local shoot in LA makes it more palatable.
3) Cleansing Eden is about Hollywood. Writers have writer porn. Hollywood has Hollywood porn. OK, maybe that's a bad analogy, given all the actual porn shot in LA. But you get my drift.
I thought I'd share the first adapted scene. It's pretty cool to see this come together. You can read the chapter it's based on here.
CLEANSING EDEN
A screenplay by Bob Yates
Adapted from the novel by Benjamin Sobieck
WGAw registered
FADE IN
EXT. NEVADA CEMETERY - NIGHT
OLDER MAN, 60’s, bald, southern drawl, and YOUNGER MAN, 20’s, scruffy stoner, dig with shovels -- disturb an existing grave to bury a bloody CORPSE that lies nearby.
Statue of the Virgin Mary oversees this unholy exercise.
OLDER MAN
(falls back, exhausted)
I need a break.
(to Younger Man’s look)
You keep digging.
YOUNGER MAN
(tired, drops his shovel)
Can’t ... can’t ...
OLDER MAN
Why not?
(kicks at the corpse)
You did this, didn’t you?
(to Younger Man’s sad nod)
Look, son, if it makes you feel any better, the guy was good as dead when we got to him. We just sped up
what cocaine would’ve done in a few years. And you know what? The world is better for it. This is a cause
bigger than ourselves.
Younger Man looks anxiously to their car, parked in b.g.
OLDER MAN
Don’t even think about makin’ a run for it. You’ll get your dope soon enough ... for a job well done.
(beat)
I am so damn proud of you. You already finished the killin’ part. But we can’t just leave this celebrity piece of shit lyin’ here. There’s no going back now.
Younger Man rises, sighs, gathers himself, resumes digging. His shovel clangs against something. He looks up, puzzled.
OLDER MAN
That would be the coffin. Time for our bold-face name to join the sixfoot club.
They drag the corpse to the grave, rudely shove it into it, toss dirt on top of it.
OLDER MAN
Funny, ain’t it? People all over the world knew this guy from the movies he made. More Americans can name him than the president. Now he’s the perfect picture of nobodyness. We took a famous guy and took away his name. Made him anonymous.
Older Man stops shoveling, lets Younger Man finish the work.
OLDER MAN
It’s only fitting. He made that name as a Hollywood hack who made a fortune stealing other people’s identities. His fans replaced their identities with his. Puttin’ his face on their walls. Wearin’ the clothes he wore. Becomin’ him in as many ways possible. You follow me?
(to Younger Man’s grunt)
People with no true sense of themselves, definin’ themselves by Hollywood bullshit. So whattaya get? Identity drain. A society of mediocrity.
(beat)
It’s so incredibly simple, I can’t believe I have to be the one to say it.
Younger Man slumps, sighs, weary. Grave is covered, shovels collected. Follow their trudge to the car.
OLDER MAN
You’re okay, kiddo. I think I’ll
keep you around.
YOUNGER MAN
Can I have my dope now? My Bluegrass?
OLDER MAN
Oh hell yes. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
They get into the car. Older Man hands over a baggie of drugs. Younger Man fires up a joint as they drive away.
FADE OUT.
October 2, 2012
What the Hey, Here's a Picture of Me with a Poster
As the title suggests, what the hey, here's a picture of me with a poster.
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