Cashing In on Breast Cancer: A Review of 'Pink Ribbons, Inc.'

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June 1, 2012

A new documentary, in select theaters now, urges women to ?think before you pink.?

Alicia Cohn

Last month, walking down a busy city street, I saw a woman wearing a black shirt with shiny pink cursive on it.

I assumed it was a breast cancer awareness shirt, and indeed it was. But after making that assumption, my next thought was: Wait, it's not even October yet.

A new documentary called Pink Ribbons, Inc., from filmmaker L?a Pool, explores how and why breast cancer awareness (also called ?pink ribbon culture?) became such big business, and whether heightened "awareness" is really making a difference in the lives of real women.

The film?s central thesis is that years ago, corporations and philanthropists discovered that fear, carefully cultivated, inspires passion, and that passion can be directed to their own financial gain.

And so the launch of breast cancer awareness campaigns, and a month-long glut of products decorated with pink ribbons.Through interviews and research, Pink Ribbons, Inc., argues that American women have been told to take ownership of breast cancer, whether or not they have it or know someone who has, and this has created more a drive to purchase endless pink products than to find a cure.

"The most important risk factor for breast cancer is being a woman," points out Dr. Olufunmilayo Olopade in the movie. Then again, the most important factor involved in almost any successful marketing scheme is also a product's appeal to women, who buy about 80 percent of consumer products. And associating with a cause always increases sales: thus the pink ribbons on Yoplait yogurt, Avon products, and Fuze drinks every October and sponsorship of everything from skydiving to horseback jumping events to, of course, the annual Susan G. Komen Run for the Cure in Washington, D.C.

A Washington resident, I know this event attracts massive crowds, and as the footage shows, it brings a wide swatch of emotional, empathetic women, even as many of them are dressed in pink wigs and t-shirts with pink hand prints over their breasts.

Carol Cone, a public relations expert from Edelman Purpose interviewed in the film, calls the gathering a "sisterhood" supplied partly by events, but more by companies through branding efforts that encourage sales and have even been used to rehabilitate the image of organizations such as the National Football League.

And so, Cone and others suggest, although women typically respond to breast cancer awareness campaigns with the best intentions, wanting to do something to contribute and looking for something to fight against, the campaign feeds itself more than research.

Meanwhile, the risk of breast cancer has only grown, with the number of new cases cited by the American Cancer Society increasing every year. People should be "angry" about this, the filmmakers suggest, but instead are celebrating their ability to get together and wear pink.

Nancy Brinker, founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, argues in the documentary that the company is not just "putting a pretty pink face on this" and actually carefully investigates each of the billions in dollars of grant funding they have given out to support research. Brinker, a regular in the news cycle this winter due to Komen?s cutting ties with Planned Parenthood, notes that anger does not motivate people, saying, "If people feel there is no hope they will not participate long-term."

The film issues a harsh condemnation of women who "just" pin a pink ribbon on in October and do not consider the implications of the campaign, and an even harsher condemnation of corporate culture. The objective and tagline for the film is "think before you pink," and it certainly raises worthwhile points about history and those who profit from the pink campaigns.

But the documentary plays to fear at least as much as do the corporate campaigns it critiques. The filmmakers note the high level of carcinogens in certain beauty products--many of which are sold with a pink ribbon on the label--even while they also note that the root causes of breast cancer are still unknown, despite all the research.

Pink Ribbons Inc. is an investigative documentary that makes everyone involved complicit in a flawed system, from the women who want to help to the companies that donate money. And it takes long digressions to speculate about the motives of various companies participating in questionable marketing campaigns for the cause.

The movie makes it clear that breast cancer has become a multimillion-dollar industry, but it also questions the lack of oversight into those funds. The strong subtext here is that the government ought to take control of what has long been considered a nonprofit campaign.

The film undercuts this apparent pro-government subtext because it is the campaigns prompted by Breast Cancer Action, the national grassroots nonprofit that is also helping promote the film, that the film portrays as having had the most positive quantifiable impact (for instance on Yoplait's decision to stop using rGBH in their milk-based products in 2008).

Like the campaign it criticizes, the movie?s objective seems more to raise awareness than a specific call to action.

It does underline the importance of knowing your cause, a reminder in keeping with the Christian principle to look beyond the appearance to the heart of things. It also, in portraying the suffering of women in the late stages of the disease--women who call themselves the ?angels of death? unwelcome to the camaraderie of the campaign--offers a reminder that no pink ribbon, however well intentioned, can address grief. Eternal hope through Christ is not likely to sell yogurt, but raising awareness about the gospel offers a different kind of success.

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