I'm having a split identity moment. (These are not necessarily uncommon.) It's October, and everywhere I turn something is wrapped in pink ribbons. Potato Chips, Mixers, hair brushes, probably even dustpans, though I haven't seen any. Why? Because October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And that means that every company with any sort of consumer product line has created a pink line with a percentage of proceeds going to Breast Cancer.

I like this, in theory. I really do. I think that Corporate America has a unique opportunity (if not a responsibility) to raise awareness of and money for the issues that plague us as a society - from cancer to early childhood education to domestic violence.

The problem, however, is that consumers are wise to the tricks, and the current strategy may have outlived it's usefulness, it may be time for an evolution.

Let's take the pink products. Specifically, the often discussed Yoplait yogurt lids. It goes something like this: consumers, believing they are raising money for breast cancer research by buying the pink-lid Yoplait yogurt, do so in great abandon. They diligently eat yogurt (which is good for you anyway, so that's a bonus), wash their lids, save their lids, send their lids to Yoplait, and Yoplait then sends a donation to charity. The problem? In order for a well intentioned consumer to earn $36 for breast cancer research, they would have to eat 3 tubs of yogurt a day for 4 months. So, it just isn't worth it. It makes more sense to just make a donation - equal to the cost of all that yogurt - directly to charity.

I don't want to be overly cynical, it isn't in my nature. But I think it's time to urge another revolution of sorts. Corporate America, with their pink ribbon campaigns and the like, has done a FANTASTIC job of raising awareness for the causes that it supports. And I applaud that.

But it has had some unintended consequences.

1. Donor Fatigue. Frankly, even with all the pink stuff, I don't notice the pink stuff. And I've almost gotten to the point that I'm tired of breast cancer, because it's everywhere, all the time. I get it. Most people get it. But what most people aren't getting is that there are a lot of other cancers, in less attractive parts of our bodies, that are killing people and languishing in obscurity. Cervical? Ovarian? Prostate? Colon? They aren't cute and sexy parts that inspire fashion lines, but they're deadly none the less. And there isn't a whole lot of room in the minds of consumers who are blinded by the pink.

2. Donor outsourcing. Some part of me thinks that this passive outsourcing of our charitable activities is removing us from more engaged forms of giving. The kind that allow us to connect directly not only with our causes, but with people who share our causes. Ultimately, those direct connections are the things that change the world, and keep us engaged on an ongoing basis.

3. An easy way out. There is a LOT of money spent in the design, manufacture and promotion of those pink items. A LOT. and I can't help but wonder what would get done if all that money went directly to the causes. Corporations could spend their advertising and PR and Marketing and CSR budgets tailoring some of their ads to promote awareness of their causes and what they do to support it, but it would still put a whole lot more money into the causes themselves.

4. The creation of celebrity causes. I kind of already said this, but, it really bothers me that we make trendy causes. Breast Cancer is like the popular girl in high school, and everyone else is competing for some attention.

My suggestions? (You know I have some.)

I would like to see an evolution here. I would like to see Corporate America choose diversity in civic engagement. Breast Cancer this year, Arts next year. Especially if they stick with the current model of marketing popular causes in order to generate product lines.

But I would also like to see some corporate engagement that brings people together. And is maybe a little less showy.

Some surprising examples? Did you know that Chevron sponsors town-hall style conversations across the country, in which they get together with real people and discuss renewable energy and how people can and would use it. It's not sexy, there's no ribbon for it, but they are out there, on the ground in towns near you, trying to figure out how to bring clean and renewable energy to consumers, in a way that consumers will use it. That's cool. They don't talk about it much (I plan to, just so you know,) but they do it because it matters. And they do it with people.

The Conservation Alliance, (which I wrote about in this column) is a group of outdoor businesses like REI, Patagonia, North Face and others who donate a percentage of their proceeds to the Alliance - as well as donating all the administrative functions necessary to run the Alliance - and the money goes directly to environmental restoration projects around the globe. They don't talk about it, they just do it. And in so doing they arm thousands of people with the tools necessary to go into the environment around them and make it better. That's cool.

I think that examples like these are leading the way to the next evolution of corporate involvement in charity.

I think that companies will do well by doing good. And I believe that most companies really do want to do good. I applaud any solution that is a win win, and in no way to I oppose these "ribbon" campaigns and the like. But I do hope no one will rest on their laurels. This was a good model that really opened the door to Corporate Social Responsibility on a large scale. But it is just an early model, and I'm anxious to see what's next.

Now, to be clear, my not-really-mother-in-law (who is one of the most amazing women I know) is battling breast cancer as we speak. She is courageous and inspirational and I am deeply aware of the impact of this disease on her life and the lives of everyone who loves her. And I am keenly aware of the fact that she got such good care because of all the attention brought to it by the Pink Ribbon campaign. But she would be the first person to say that there are lots of other causes out there that need and deserve the same attention.

And I really do want the pink Kitchen Aid mixer, and I have bought more than one item from a ribbon campaign. But I don't do it to support charity. I do it to support corporate engagement. When I want to support charity, I either write a check or volunteer.