Real Men Wear Pink: How the Auto Industry Does Breast Cancer Awareness

October is breast cancer awareness month. This killer disease impacts the lives of thousands of women (and some men!) as well as their families all over the world. According to BreastCancer.org, over 40,000 women in the US are expected to die from the disease in 2018. Thanks to increased awareness though, that number continues to drop a little more each year. A simple part of spreading the word has been the adoption of the color pink to show support for breast cancer survivors, patients, and their family and friends. And while pink might not always be a first-choice color in the car community, auto enthusiasts are quick to don it when it’s for a cause near and dear to their hearts. With that said, we’re going to look at five times builders got it right when they went pink.

Courtney Force Funny Car

Courtney Force is a competitive drag racer who competes in the NHRA. Force drives the Advance Auto Parts SS Camaro Funny Car. Usually, the car can be seen in a real tough red and black color scheme, similar to that of the traditional Advance Auto Parts theme.

Last year, however, she proudly sported the color pink to raise awareness for the efforts of the Young Survival Coalition. The YSC is a non-profit dedicated to raising breast cancer awareness, particularly in women under the age of 40. Advance Auto also donated $1 to the coalition for every Carquest brand product sold during the entire month of October.

Journee Richardson Dirt Car

Journee Richardson is a force of nature. An off-road racer who is extremely passionate about empowering women, she donates to charitable causes dedicated to helping those in need. Earlier this year, Journee was spotted in Las Vegas racing an all-pink buggy on a grueling course.

After the event, she spent the next two days distributing pamphlets and raising breast cancer awareness at a Tech and Contingency event. It may not have been October but with the effort and that sweet buggy, she showed it’s never a bad time to wear pink.

Chad Smith OneBadChad

When Chad Smith lost his mother to breast cancer in 2009, he decided to dedicate his Chevy 2500 Duramax truck to raising awareness about the deadly disease. He spent four years modifying it into a moving memorial—the truck even rolled pink coal! His campaign, OneBadChad, gained national attention as he traveled car shows and charity events, raising money for many causes, including the Alight Foundation and Little Pink Houses of Hope.

Devastatingly, in 2015, Chad’s truck was the victim of arson. But through the kind donations of others and a lot of hard wrenching, Chad was able to rebuild the truck and has continued the good work of spreading breast cancer awareness and positive vibes.

Dale Lovett Work Truck

Dale Lovett, owner of an excavation company in Portland, Oregon, believes in doing things the right way. He and his head of marketing put themselves to the test of gaining Facebook followers while also raising breast cancer awareness. In his personal challenge, he told his partner if he could get 2,400 followers in 3 days, he would paint his truck pink. For every follower he gained after that, he would donate a dollar toward breast cancer research.

Twelve hours later, the company had 2,700 followers and Dale, a man of his word, painted his 2012 GMC Denali a surprisingly rugged pink scheme. Not many can pull this off, but Dale sure did. He’s living proof that real men can wear pink.

West Coast Customs Cop Car

With the trend of pink vehicles taking root, West Coast Customs helped kick it up a notch with a shiny, pink chrome Ford Explorer for the Burbank police department last year. As part of the Pink Car Project, this colorful police cruiser made appearances at special events across the city spreading breast cancer awareness. Fellow attendees were encouraged to write personalized messages of their experience with the disease on Post-It notes which were then displayed at the police station.

“This is gonna draw attention to our cause, and that’s prevention, detection, and caring for people with breast cancer,” said Burbank Police Chief Scott LaChasse at the time of the reveal. It’s safe to say that this ride definitely stood out—even among fellow pink vehicles!

Whether it’s wearing a ribbon, sparing a dollar, or spreading the word, we encourage you to contribute to breast cancer awareness this month. Besides, it gives you a damn good excuse to wear that pink shirt you’ve been hiding from your friends all these years… Yeah, we know you’ve got one.