SIFF review: Pink Ribbons, Inc.

Pink Ribbons, Inc. finds itself in a difficult position because it was released after, but created before the news broke that the Susan G. Komen Foundation was going to stop giving money to Planned Parenthood. Fortunately, that decision was reversed, and, for better or worse, the Komen Foundation has yet to be able to undo the damage to its reputation after that poorly-conceived decision.

What the documentary Pink Ribbons, Inc. explores is the problematic nature of the breast cancer awareness culture. Corporations pour millions of dollars into ineffective breast cancer research with little accountability, while, as the film persuasively notes, companies like Revlon and Avon use materials that have been linked to causing cancer in their cosmetics. Director Léa Pool does a great job examining the evidence that a lot of money has gone into the cause, but hasn’t put anyone any closer to finding a cure, the supposed purpose of the ubiquitous walks the Komen Foundation puts on annually.

Also compelling are the interviews with members of a stage four breast cancer support group. These ladies note that they don’t feel particularly welcome in the breast cancer group because the disease will likely take their lives (“there’s no stage five,” one notes) and it conflicts with the optimistic tone that is being sold to the public at large.

The most surreal moment of the film occurs when Komen CEO Nancy Brinker defends the Komen Foundation’s unusual partnership with Kentucky Fried Chicken, which allowed the fast food chain to tie itself to the cause for the cure.

The film doesn’t note that KFC’s “pink washing” efforts came at the same time as KFC unveiled their “Double Down” sandwich, a heart attack waiting to happen. It also feels a little out of date because it didn’t capture the Planned Parenthood controversy, but it’s a strong argument against corporate pink washing, laid out convincingly with plenty of evidence to support why this is problematic. It comes at a time when more and more people are aware of the problem. It’ll enrage viewers in the way it needs to, and you’ll leave the theater understanding why eating yogurt won’t put anyone any closer to finding a cure.

{Pink Ribbons, Inc. plays at SIFF on Monday, May 28 at 3:30pm at the Harvard Exit.}