Every October, Michael Wild wears the same pink sport coat for 31 days.
For the past 10 years, the jacket has been his impossible-to-miss way of raising money for the American Cancer Society and breast cancer awareness. What began with six logos and a simple fundraising idea has grown into an annual tradition that has raised more than $150,000.
The idea came when a friend involved with the American Cancer Society asked Wild to participate in the “Real Men Wear Pink” campaign. Already heavily involved with nonprofits, he worried he had exhausted friends and colleagues with requests for donations, tickets, and sponsorships. “If I have to ask for any more money from people, they’re going to stop taking my calls,” he remembers thinking.
Then inspiration struck. Wild thought about NASCAR drivers and professional athletes who wear sponsors’ logos. Why not do something similar for charity? “If you give me $300, for less than $10 a day, I am a walking billboard for you, and it’s for a good cause,” he says of the original pitch. Today, the minimum donation is $500, paid directly to the American Cancer Society. Last year, his jacket carried 32 logos.
There’s one catch: Wild draws every logo himself. Using colored Sharpies, he recreates each company’s branding on a new pink jacket every year. He has been tasked with drawing everything from a multi-faceted diamond to the Brooklyn Bridge to, memorably, a QR code.
Once October arrives, the jacket goes everywhere Wild goes— work, events, travel, and even Halloween, when his costume has to incorporate it. This year, he’ll even wear it to his son’s bar mitzvah.
But the jacket has become more than a clever fundraising idea. On a bachelor-party trip to Nashville, a woman asked why he was wearing it. After hearing the story, she told Wild her mother was a breast cancer survivor and asked if she could write a message to her on the jacket. Others followed, and that year’s jacket included logos on the back and heartfelt messages on the front.
That connection is why Wild has no plans to retire the tradition. “There’s something so organic about it,” he says. “It’s very personal. I’m hand-drawing all of them. All of these people are people that I know.”
After a decade, the pink jacket has become part of Wild’s identity. “Everyone knows me,” he says. “I’m the pink jacket guy.”
There’s still time to donate to the American Cancer Society and be a part of Michael Wild’s 2026 Pink Jacket campaign. If interested, email [email protected]
