In this week's film section, I wrote about Pink Ribbons, Inc., a documentary on the sneaky corporate side of the pinkwashed breast cancer support effort. Bottom line: The money you toss at pink-ribboned product (yogurt, bucket of KFC, hairdryer, firearm) goes mostly back into the pocket of its maker. And the tiny percentage shaved off to fund breast cancer research projects? The documentary argues it's wildly ineffective. Meanwhile, people feel good about buying the pink products when they could be helping in more solid ways.

Little has been done to put the brakes on this corporate cycle. This week's example: Marvel comic books. Come October ("Breast Cancer Awareness Month") select Marvel covers will sport the Susan G. Komen pink ribbon and deck out its featured superhero in pink. Marvel's not actually donating any money from the sales to the Komen foundation—this is just a campaign to "raise awareness" of breast cancer.

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Are you feeling aware yet?

Now, let's talk about Susan G. Komen for the Cure. This pink-tastic organization faced fury when it pulled $680,000 from Planned Parenthood funding earlier this year. Major execs resigned, local branches wrote heated letters, shit hit the fan, and Komen finally reversed its position. Now, it's slowly putting itself back into the public spotlight. Through superheroes. Smart move, Komen.

Below the jump are a couple more choice selections from Marvel's October collection. Captain America's shield resembles tasty Neapolitan ice cream.

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