• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, October 3, 2006

When the calendar turns to October, forget about pumpkin orange. Increasingly, consumers see breast-cancer-awareness pink, the Energizer bunny of cause-related marketing.

With the kickoff of the 21st annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month, all the usual suspects are touting their fund-raising marketing programs.

Shoppers can buy a special Avon foot cream or nail polish, or sign up for one of its many breast-cancer awareness walks. Since 1993, the company has raised more than $70 million for breast cancer research.

Kroger Co. is kicking off its "pink tag" campaign, which includes special labels for products by Kellogg's, Coca-Cola, and Unilever.

Campbell Soup Co. is even selling a limited edition of Chicken Noodle and Tomato soup for the event, trading its traditional red-and-white labels for pink-and-white versions, and the Kroger effort is expected to raise $3 million.

Consumers can join in BMW's 10th anniversary of The Ultimate Drive, in which it donates $1 for every test-drive mile. It has raised $9 million so far. (If that's too tame, they can borrow a Harley-Davidson and join in the Annual Pink October Harley Ride.)

Or they can celebrate Lee's 11th annual Denim Day, which so far has raised $62 million for breast-cancer research. (Companies allow employees to wear jeans to work on the first Friday of October, in exchange for a $5 donation.)

Here's a new one: Consumers can fly in a pink plane, just unveiled by Delta, to generate more awareness for breast cancer. (Delta will sell $2 pink lemonade for the entire month.)

Taken together, it's clear that breast-cancer awareness is at least as popular as The Simpsons. Nor does it show any sign of slowing down: The Avon fund-raising walk in Chicago last week raised a record $8.2 million, and this weekend's event in New York is expected to come in even higher.