Pink Ribbons, Inc ★★★★☆

Part of this year’s 16th incarnation of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, Léa Pool’s impassioned documentary Pink Ribbons, Inc looks to expose the corporate interests behind the iconic pink ribbon of Cancer Awareness month. Often seen as a symbol of solidarity which helps fight this devastating disease, Pool raises a compelling counter argument that the companies behind these charities may have interests which are actually detrimental to the medical research required to cure breast cancer – a disease which claims the lives of almost 40,000 North American each year.

Pool’s eye-opening documentary focuses on the numerous companies who exploit the cause of breast cancer awareness to advertise their products – from handguns and gasoline to the types of cosmetics filled with carcinogens which are believed to cause cancer, you’d be amazed at the type of products which are designed to cash in on this lucrative marketing model. Over the years, this reliance on the funding from multinational business has begun to dilute the previous militant approach to research and now depict breast cancer as a far more marketable commodity – focusing on awareness rather than prevention and the devastating effects of the disease.

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