Susan G. Komen for the Cure(R)'s New 'Imagine' Campaign Ties Public to Its Running...

Susan G. Komen for the Cure(R)'s New 'Imagine' Campaign Ties Public to Its
Running Ribbon Logo, Global Mission to End Breast Cancer Forever

DALLAS, Aug. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers across the country are being
challenged to "imagine life without breast cancer" in a new promotional
campaign launching this week from Susan G. Komen for the Cure(R), the global
leader in the breast cancer movement.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070122/NYM084LOGO)
Print materials, shopping cart ads in top markets, "door clings" and
special back-lit displays at shopping malls in major markets across the United
States will reach millions of people with Komen's vision of a world without
breast cancer. The campaign is prominently featured in top women's magazines,
including several that target African American women, a population sector that
bears a disproportionate breast cancer burden.
The "Imagine" theme also is being featured on merchandise items, direct
mail pieces, donor materials and online communications from Susan G. Komen and
its corporate partners.
As part of the campaign, Komen for the Cure is introducing a web site,
http://www.thisistheribbon.org, going live Aug. 12, where users can share
breast cancer stories. The online social networking site Facebook is
encouraging visitors to interact with 'Imagine' on Komen's own Facebook Fan
page.
Featuring Susan G. Komen for the Cure's distinctive running ribbon, which
was created as part of the organization's bold brand re-launch on its 25th
anniversary, the "Imagine" campaign's overall objective is to securely place
Susan G. Komen for the Cure in the world's consciousness as the frontrunner in
the fight against breast cancer
Dallas-based advertising agency Launch created the campaign, which will
appear in select publications starting Monday, Aug. 11.
Standing Above a Sea of Pink Ribbons
"The 'Imagine' campaign is designed to grab people's attention in some
pretty unusual places, touch them emotionally and encourage them to support
our goal of ending breast cancer forever," said Tim Doke, chief marketing
officer at Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
The "Imagine" campaign's poignant survivor messages, coupled with specific
information about the global impact Komen for the Cure is making on breast
cancer, is designed to help consumers and donors recognize and rally around
Komen's pink ribbon as a symbol of a future without breast cancer.
Komen wants consumers, who increasingly are bombarded with generic pink
ribbons, to equate its running ribbon logo with significant progress, real
results and important breast cancer breakthroughs.
"We want people to identify with our mission -- to truly imagine the end
of breast cancer -- and to see our ribbon as an invitation to get active and
engage in any number of ways with Komen in the fight against breast cancer,"
Doke said.
Many corporate partners incorporate the organization's ribbon in special
programs and services they offer during October, National Breast Cancer
Awareness Month. Along with clear information about how the purchase of
Komen-branded pink ribbon products and merchandise helps fund important breast
cancer research and community health programs, consumers receive information
on breast health, breast cancer and the benefits of early detection.
Since its inception more than 25 years ago, Susan G. Komen for the Cure
has invested more than $1.2 billion in scientific research and community
health programs. With the re-launch of its brand in 2006, the organization
committed its resources to ending breast cancer forever and pledged to invest
no less than $2 billion more to bring about a significant decrease in breast
cancer deaths by the year 2017.
Tied to the Cures
Despite notable progress made in the last quarter-century, breast cancer
continues to claim more than 410,000 lives annually around the world. Over the
next 25 years, another 25 million men and women are expected to be diagnosed
with breast cancer and another 10 million people will die of the disease. Most
of the deaths will occur in the developing world, including 30 countries in
Africa and Asia.
The launch of Komen's "Imagine" campaign coincides with the joint
announcement made today by Susan G. Komen for the Cure and its longtime
corporate partner, American Airlines, of Komen's first Promise Grant -- a
multi-million dollar investment by American in inflammatory breast cancer
research at University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. To commemorate
what is the single largest research investment in this aggressive and deadly
form of breast cancer, American today unveiled several aircraft bearing
Komen's distinctive, running pink ribbon logo from tip to tail.
Promise Grants, which bring top teams of scientists and clinicians from
leading institutions together to focus on important issues in breast cancer,
grew out of Komen for the Cure's desire to speed the discovery and delivery of
the cures for breast cancer.
About Susan G. Komen for the Cure(R)
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do
everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise
became Susan G. Komen for the Cure(R) and launched the global breast cancer
movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world's largest grassroots network
of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower
people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures.
Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure, we have invested more than
$1 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit
funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. For more
information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer,
visit http://www.komen.org or call 1-877 GO KOMEN.
SOURCE Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Jean Maza, +1-972-701-2105, jmaza@komen.org, or Rebecca Gibson,
+1-972-855-4319, rgibson@komen.org, both of Susan G. Komen for the Cure