May is Older Americans Month. But with so many awareness initiatives, do causes get lost?

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy designated May as Senior Citizens Month. It was later renamed Older Americans Month. It’s another way to shine a light on a group of people or issues. But decades later, there are a lot of awareness initiatives.

When it comes to raising awareness of any issue, there are competing priorities.

"May is crowded. There's no question about that. It's just in May alone. We've got mental health awareness. We have skin cancer awareness. We have motorcycle awareness," said Nancy Gray, a professor in the Department of Marketing at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business.

She said many of these awareness initiatives have history. Like Mental Health Awareness Month, which was established in 1949. "And it was to fight stigma and it was to promote treatment," she said.

But do these efforts work? It depends. If it piques our interest, we might pay attention. It could also come off as disingenuous if a brand appears to be jumping on the bandwagon.

Take National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Gray said some organizations have been accused of pink washing.

"So, it would be associating your brand with this, just blatantly putting everybody that's in your company wearing pink ribbons, and maybe this is not aligned with your brand at all," she said.

June features several awareness initiatives, including Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month and Pride Month.