Product Details

• Actors: Dr. Susan Love, Dr. Olufunmilayo Olopade, Barbara Ehrenreich, Barbara Brenner, Samantha King
• Directors: Lea Pool
• Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: First Run Features
• DVD Release Date: September 25, 2012
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00768M7XC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,851 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Resoundingly pops the shiny pink balloon of the breast cancer movement/industry, debunking the "comfortable lies" and corporate double-talk that permeate the massive and thus-far-ineffectual campaign against a disease that claims nearly 60,000 lives each year in North America alone. --John Anderson, Variety

CRITIC'S PICK! Uncannily prescient and enduringly timely. --Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post

Revelatory...deserves to be seen. --Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times

Product Description

The ubiquitous pink ribbons of breast cancer philanthropy - and the hand-in-hand marketing of brands and products associated with that philanthropy-- permeates our culture, providing assurance that we are engaged in a successful battle against this insidious disease. But the campaign obscures the reality and facts of breast cancer - more and more women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, and face the same treatment options they did 40 years ago. Yet women are also the most influential market group, buying 80 percent of consumer products and making most major household purchasing decisions. So then who really benefits from the pink ribbon campaigns -- the cause or the company? And what if the very companies and products that profit from their association have actually contributed to the problem?

In showing the real story of breast cancer and the lives of those who fight it, Pink Ribbons, Inc. reveals the co-opting of what marketing experts have labeled a "dream cause."

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Business Of Breast Cancer: A Hard-Hitting Documentary Challenges The Status Quo August 23, 2012

By K. Harris HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWER

With an aunt currently enduring Stage Four treatment, I am especially attuned to checking out films/programs related to the topic of cancer. And in the world of cancer, specifically breast cancer, there is no campaign or subject more omnipresent and all-encompassing than the pink ribbon movement. Symbolizing community and survival and hope, various organizations utilize the pink ribbons (and peripheral merchandise) to stage events in the eternal pursuit of fundraising. But where has all that money gone? And is it really as altruistic as we might hope? The new documentary "Pink Ribbons, Inc." poses those questions and many more, and it is an essential look at corporate hypocrisy and skewed priorities. It is filled with many examples (I won't list anyone here specifically) that really seem to defy any logic other than greed.

The movie hits hard and is quite aggressive. Its primary target is big business and pharmaceuticals that use breast cancer as a means of commerce. Incidents of breast cancer are on the rise, we make more money than ever before, and we're getting no closer to a solution. The film rightly suggests that perhaps the main focus of fundraising should be geared to prevention (and not detection). Companies profit from treatment after detection, but prevention would be the end to a revenue stream. The second big issue, to my mind, that the film raises is just who is using pink ribbons as a platform for sales. Should corporations that produce carcinogenic and unhealthy products really be able to capitalize on pink marketing? If they really supported the cure for breast cancer, the answer is a lot closer to home than staging public relation events--get the harmful material out of your own practices!

I think it's always great to ask hard questions, dig deeper, and stay the course of righteousness. A lot of mistakes are being made under the guise of pink ribbons (and the corporate entities utilizing them), but it's also hard to be completely critical of something that has brought so much attention to the subject and so much support for many women who connect with its ideals. Sometimes I think "Pink Ribbons, Inc." and the women it interviews are too dismissive of a campaign that has created a real support community. One of the fundamental challenges (for some) is that the whole idea of merchandising in pink "prettifies" the disease, somehow makes it more acceptable. The pink ribbon, to my mind, has become a cultural touchstone. We can't deny its power, but must channel what it stands for toward a more progressive solution. "Pink Ribbons, Inc." definitely gives you food for thought and makes one take a more critical stance. Let's not get complacent and lets hold any company that says it supports a cure for breast cancer to that stated goal! KGHarris, 8/12.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars shocking story/expose! September 25, 2012

By hsw

I recently watched this Dvd, and highly recommend it to all women. It is a very powerful video and a serious eye opener. Although it could use a bit of editing in some parts, overall it is an outstanding dvd. There are some very very intelligent professional women in the breast cancer field who speak in this dvd, and what they have to say is deeply disturbing, even shocking. We are being seriously dumbed down and the breast cancer cure/cause has been hugely commercialized, even hijacked. Not to mention companies involved in the pink ribbon campaign at the same time producing products that cause breast cancer. Less than 5% of the massive funds collected are spent on prevention, there is no accountability or even organization as to where all these funds go or how they are used ( duplication of studies, repetition etc etc) . In 1940 1 in 22 women could expect to get breast cancer , now it is 1 in 8 women, given all the money that has been thrown at run for the cure etc, there is something very wrong with this picture. this DVD will stay with me a long time. I urge people, women in particular to view it. It is only as more people become aware of what is going on that any chance of positive change will happen.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of Pink Ribbons, Inc. documentary film January 14, 2013

By Rachelle A Fox

Amazon Verified Purchase

This is an amazing and detailed documentary and expose on how "Pink Ribbon" fundraising money is allocated in the fight against breast cancer. I would highly recommend it !