As part of the Diversity Film Series and breast cancer awareness month, Elizabethtown College hosted a showing of “Pink Ribbons Inc.” as well as an informational discussion of the film. This documentary featured an informative overview of various aspects of breast cancer in today’s society. It discussed underlying issues, such as scientific facts about the disease that are largely unknown to the general public, as well as numerous corporate companies’ attempts to use breast cancer as a way to generate income and sell products rather than actually raising money to support awareness.
An example of an unjust marketing strategy is the Yoplait Yogurt “Pink Lids Save Lives” campaign. Yoplait made the claim that for each yogurt top that was cleaned and sent back to them via mail, the corporation would donate 10 cents. This practice proved to be virtually worthless to the cause because it was only a four-month campaign. The film described this example: if someone had three cups of yogurt a day for the entire duration of the campaign and sent in all the tops, that would only generate thirty-four dollars. “You’re better off writing a check” was the final quote of the film’s anecdote of the Yoplait marketing campaign.
This marketing strategy does not only target women or people personally affected by the disease, but it also applies to American Express’ “Every Dollar Counts” marketing plan. American Express made the claim that every dollar you spend would directly benefit research to help the cause of breast cancer. The fine print revealed that for every purchase you made with the card, American Express would only donate one cent to cancer research. The film used the example, even if you bought a fur coat costing a thousand dollars you would only be donating one cent.
A silver lining does exist, though. Activists such as the late Barbara Brenner have been at the forefront of stopping campaigns that target the public in these ways.
Brenner is behind initiating the email chain that forced American Express to discontinue their “Every Dollar Counts” campaign. She was also largely responsible for KFC introducing grilled products as an alternative to their classic home-style fried chicken. She made it clear that if a company wanted to be involved with helping the cause of breast cancer, they should start by serving food that is not drastically unhealthy. This lead to KFC enacting a practice of donating 50 cents for every grilled and Home-style bucket of chicken they sold during October.
In addition to exposing the issues with marketing in corporate America, “Pink Ribbons Inc.” also provided personal stories and facts about breast cancer.
After the film’s credits rolled, Assistant Professor of Sociology Dr. Rita Shah led a discussion that related “Pink Ribbons Inc.” and breast cancer to the over-arching theme of treatment of women in today’s society. She remarked that the number of women affected by domestic violence is higher than that affected by breast cancer, and yet this is seemingly unknown to the public. With the popularity of raising awareness for breast cancer and its success, one might also consider what other issues need to be raised with the same level of activism.
