October is breast cancer awareness month and pink ribbons are everywhere. They are emblazoned on cans of soup, cups of yogurt and buckets of fried chicken (?). You would think that only good intentions are behind the support to bring an end a terrible disease but the 2011 documentary “Pink Ribbons, Inc.” would like to plead a case that may open your eyes to some very interesting (and heartbreaking) facts.
Everyone loves boobies: Babies, Men and the lucky women who have them and the campaign to save the mammaries and, more importantly, lives has become a very popular one. Charity walks are found across the country. The NFL devotes the entire month to the cause by shrouding their players in pink gloves and socks. These acts are all done with seemingly good intentions but as you dig beneath the surface many questions are raised. Director Lea Pool presents these questions and will have you seeing things a little different by the end credits.
A couple glaring pieces of information that I found crucial to the doc’s message: It seems that NBCAM (National Breast Cancer Awareness Month) was started in 1985 with a joint partnership between the American Cancer Society and a pharmaceutical company that is now know as AstraZeneca. “Pink Ribbons, Inc.” presents this alliance as public relations campaign that effectively allows the pharmaceutical companies to sell more cancer fighting drugs. It’s an interesting thought and an infuriating one.
Since then, the entire cause has been package and sold to the public and as several companies sell you their products under the guise of working for a cure, there is no way of knowing where that money is going or if it going anywhere at all. American Express ran a promotion that would have them donate one penny to research from every eligible transaction. One Penny. And yet the ads present a notion that we are working together to end a form of cancer that kills far too many.
Another dozy is that both Avon and Revlon, makeup producing companies that have a huge presence when it comes to charity work and events, have products that may linked to breast cancer. This is called “pink washing,” a Catch-22 scenario that has these industry giants contributing to the problem they are supposedly trying to solve.
Like many agenda documentaries, “Pink Ribbons, Inc.” is very one-sided in its message and is presented by a group of activists that doesn’t allow for much balance. Representatives for these companies are allowed to speak but their statements are immediately followed by information that nullifies them. You will have to decide for yourself what to take from it. I, myself, do not believe that the Susan G Komen Foundation is a money grubbing group, they may just be spreading the wrong message. Too often in the film, the participants of charity events are shown as a blind herd that are buying into the corporate lie. This is a major misstep in the film as these people are all fighting for what they think will stop something they ultimately have no control over. I believe in what they do and why they do it.
The real message comes from the people who are fighting the disease and much of the film’s important moments comes from a support group out of Austin, Texas that are all diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. Their stories deliver the most awareness and that is what we should focus on. Breast Cancer is tragic and no one should capitalize from that.