By Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: Pink Shirt Day is about kindness, not about marketing

Feb 27, 2019 | 5:30 AM

KAMLOOPS — I’M WEARING a pink tie today.

OK, it’s Pink ‘Shirt’ Day but that’s become a slight misnomer — the idea is that we all wear something pink to support the movement against bullying. It was started in 2007 by a couple of caring Nova Scotia students after a younger student was bullied for wearing a pink shirt to school.

They bought and distributed 50 pink shirts. Now it’s annual, and worldwide.

This year’s focus is on cyberbullying. “Be Kind” is the main slogan but not the only one. Elsewhere, it’s advertised as “Choose Kindness — Kindness is Contagious.” Yet another one, T-shirts and all, is “Kindness Starts Here.” Still, we know what Pink Shirt Day is (and it’s a great thing) but just “who” it is has gotten a little fuzzy, at least to me.

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There are a bunch of different websites soliciting donations and selling T-shirts and other gear. You can buy a shirt, a Pink Shirt Day teddy bear, a mood bracelet, a ball cap, pins, buttons and even toques.

Every special day inevitably attracts corporate sponsors. Pink Shirt Day has a whole lot of them. Some are national, some are local: a radio station, a drug store, a food store, a building centre, etc. Several different societies across the country are involved, too.

That kind of support has given Pink Shirt Day a level of marketing a couple of high school kids could never have dreamed of. Money is being raised for all manner of organizations that do good work.

Seems to me, though, the spirit behind Pink Shirt Day is about taking a day — one day — to embrace human kindness, not about corporate logos on T-Shirts or even about fundraising.

Let’s just wear something pink and let that speak for us.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.