''Pink Ribbons, Inc.'' is a 2011

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

(NFB) documentary about the

pink ribbon The pink ribbon is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness. Pink ribbons, and the color pink in general, identify the wearer or promoter with the breast cancer brand and express moral support for women with breast cancer. Pink ribb ...

campaign, directed by

Léa Pool Léa Pool C.M. (born 8 September 1950) is a Swiss-Canadian filmmaker who taught film at the Université du Québec à Montréal. She has directed several documentaries and feature films, many of which have won significant awards including the ...

and produced by Ravida Din. The film is based on the 2006 book ''Pink Ribbons, Inc: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy'' by Samantha King, associate professor of

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...

and health studies at Queen's University. The film documents how some companies use pink ribbon-related marketing to increase sales while contributing only a small fraction of proceeds to the cause, or use " pinkwashing" to improve their public image while manufacturing products that may be

carcinogenic A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive substan ...

. For the millions that are raised for breast cancer research by the campaign, the film argues that not enough money goes to prevention or exploring possible environmental factors. ''Pink Ribbons, Inc.'' features interviews with critics of the pink ribbon campaign, researchers and cancer patients as well as cancer fundraisers such as

Nancy Brinker Nancy Goodman Brinker (born December 6, 1946) is the founder of The Promise Fund and Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization named after her only sister, who died from breast cancer. Brinker was also United States Ambassador to Hungary from ...

, head of

Susan G. Komen for the Cure Susan G. Komen (formerly known as Susan G. Komen for the Cure; originally as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation; often simply as Komen) is a breast cancer organization in the United States. Komen focuses on patient navigation and advo ...

. Pool interviews Charlotte Haley, who began a peach-coloured ribbon campaign more than 20 years ago to press the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

to increase its budget for cancer prevention research, from a mere 5 per cent. When Haley was approached by ''Self'' magazine and cosmetics company Estée Lauder in 1992 to use her ribbons in a breast cancer awareness campaign she refused, because she had no desire to be part of a commercial effort. So the company changed the colour to pink, to circumvent Haley's efforts. Also featured is the "IV League," a support group in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

for women diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer, who feel unwelcome in the pink ribbon movement because, in the words of one member, "They’re learning to live and you’re learning to die." Author Samantha King has called it “the tyranny of cheerfulness.”

Development

Ravida Din, an NFB producer, is a breast cancer survivor who had read Samantha King's book as well as

Barbara Ehrenreich Barbara Ehrenreich (, ; ; August 26, 1941 – September 1, 2022) was an American author and political activist. During the 1980s and early 1990s, she was a prominent figure in the Democratic Socialists of America. She was a widely read and awar ...

's 2001 ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

'' article "Welcome to Cancerland" after her own experience with the disease and its treatment: After developing an outline for the project with help from scriptwriters Nancy Guerin and Patricia Kearns, Din began looking for the right director, and approached Pool with the project.

Style

Pool illustrates written facts about breast cancer, in place of traditional documentary

narration Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to storytelling, convey a narrative, story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deli ...

, and includes animation by Francis Gelinas as well as an archival TV clip of

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

directing

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

as a doctor telling a patient she has breast cancer. The film heavily features the colour

pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

, on clothing, in marketing, and floodlit monuments like

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

and the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...

. This movie also shows several clips of public rallies and walking/running events, such as the Komen Walk for the Cure.

Reception

Release

''Pink Ribbons, Inc.'' premiered at the

2011 Toronto International Film Festival The 36th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 8 and September 18, 2011. Buenos Aires, Argentina was selected to be showcased for the 2011 City to City programme. The opening film ...

. It opened in Canadian theatres on February 3, 2012, a date which coincided with the reversal of a controversial

Susan G. Komen Susan G. Komen (formerly known as Susan G. Komen for the Cure; originally as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation; often simply as Komen) is a breast cancer organization in the United States. Komen focuses on patient navigation and advo ...

attempt to sever ties to

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

's US breast screening clinic programmes. According to Deborah Drisdell, head of the NFB's accessibility and digital enterprises division, the NFB chose to distribute the film itself in Canada rather than use a commercial distributor to better control the marketing and capitalize on its ongoing work with community groups in Canada.

First Run Features First Run Features is an independent film distribution company based in New York City. History First Run was founded in 1979 by a group of filmmakers in order to advance the distribution of independent film. In the 1980s, the company focused ...

will distribute ''Pink Ribbons, Inc.'' in the United States.

Critical reviews

Currently, ''Pink Ribbons, Inc.'' has a rating of 88% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 33 reviews and an average score of 7/10.

References

External links

*
''Pink Ribbons, Inc.''
at

* {{Awareness ribbon 2011 films 2011 documentary films National Film Board of Canada documentaries Breast cancer Documentary films about cancer 2010s feminist films Documentary films about environmental issues Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Léa Pool First Run Features films Awareness ribbon Breast cancer awareness English-language Canadian films 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films