The Truth About Ralph Lauren And Their Misleading Pink Ponies.

This is a story about Ralph Lauren and how his naughty Pink Ponies taught an aspiring journalist to read between the lines and keep her pennies where she could see them.

As an eager and enthusiastic intern on my very first day at a fashion magazine, I was absolutely thrilled to be given my first story to get cracking on. The story was about Ralph Lauren and their Pink Pony Campaign, a global initiative launched by Mr. Lauren himself following the death of a dear friend of his to breast cancer. My job was to promote the Pink Pony Walk through Sydney as well as the Pink Pony Collection, from which 20% of all sale proceeds are donated to the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre. And so, what came to be was my first piece of published writing: 'Ralph Lauren, Pink Ponies And The Fight Against Cancer'.

I was tickled pink - excuse the pun - with my efforts. The article was colourful, fun and supported a good cause. I even caught myself thinking: 'Fashion isn't superficial - it's about philanthropy and using glamorous things to help those in need'. A quick trip to Bondi Junction proved me oh-so-wrong.

I stepped into the gorgeous Ralph Lauren store at the Junction with every intention of purchasing a piece from the Pink Pony Collection. These intentions were short-lived when I found that a black t-shirt featuring the international brand's signature polo player in pink was a whopping $180. I felt enraged and so disappointed - how could a t-shirt possible cost that much? The more I thought about it, the more thwarted I felt.

Since 2002, Ralph Lauren has donated over $500,000 to the NBOCC from Pink Pony merchandise sales. That is a large amount of money but lets do a little calculation, shall we? If 20% of proceeds are donated from the sale of Ralph Lauren Pink Pony t-shirts, this means that a donation of $36 is made for each one sold at $180. In order to make a donation of that size, 13,900 Ralph Lauren Pink Pony t-shirts must have been sold for an approximate total of $2,502,000. From that $2,502,000 spent by Australians, only a measly fraction has been donated to the cause. What a joke.

If each person who owns an item from the Pink Pony Collection had, instead of paying the exorbitant prices demanded by Ralph Lauren, donated their money straight to the NBOCC, they would not only feel so much better about their generosity but would have also contributed to a donation of more than $2,500,000 to benefit programs run by the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre.

And why do we need to wear our philanthropy anyway? We should be able to donate and feel good enough about the fact that we've donated without parading around with our donation on our torso. Don't get me wrong, I think any donation is better than no donation. But please, I urge you to put your money where it should be. Visit nbocc.org.au to make a donation today.