Pink Ribbons, Inc. 2011

“Based on Samantha King’s book of the same name, Canadian filmmaker Léa Pool’s trenchant critique of breast cancer ‘culture’ questions the lucrative partnership between the pink ribbon campaign, corporations and cause marketing. Exploring how companies selling ‘everything from handguns to gasoline’ – including those whose own products contain carcinogens – have cozied up to the movement, the film concludes they’ve bought a lot of good publicity but little in the way of medical progress… Little of that money [more than $1 billion raised] has made its way into research into causes, notably environmental factors like contaminants from plastics or livestock treated with hormones, the film argues. Instead the push has been for early detection and developing a cure – two areas that benefit pharmaceutical companies but not necessarily patients… Blending expert testimony with emotional appeals from a support group for women diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, this stinging indictment raises an altogether different call to arms.” — Mindy Farabee, LA Times