The "Keep A Breast Foundation" in Carlsbad, California is causing a stir by selling rubber cause bracelets to teenagers that say "I (heart) Boobies" for $4.00 apiece. The bracelets' sexual innuendo has made it a runaway hit among teenage boys, some of whom have been suspended from school for wearing them. Schools from Florida to California are banning the bracelets, arguing that their message makes some people uncomfortable, is demeaning and trivializes the seriousness of the disease. One Oregon high school said the "awareness" message was lost on the ninth-grade boys who were wearing them. But even more eyebrow-raising than the bracelets' sexualized message is the Keep A Breast Foundation's financial picture. According to MSNBC, tax records show the Foundation spent a minuscule 1.4 percent of its 2008 revenue on breast cancer research awards and grants. In 2009, it spent a similarly small fraction on such programs, despite an income of $10 million or more likely gained from the runaway sales of its "Boobies" bracelets. Breast Cancer Action, which reports on incidents of pinkwashing, suggests consumers ask critical questions about where their money goes prior to buying merchandise that purveyors claim helps advance a cause.

The health insurance industry plowed $86.2 million into drumming up opposition to the health care reform bill, and that was just the money they spent in 2009. Big insurers UnitedHealth Group, CIGNA Corporation and others funneled the money to America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the industry's lobbying group, which in turn gave it to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is acting as a front group for big industries to influence elections. The Chamber used the money to buy advertisements, polling and put on astroturf events aimed at ginning up public opposition to the bill that is predicted to supply health insurance coverage to 32 million previously uninsured Americans, according to Chamber spokesman Tom Collamore. (Before he worked for the Chamber, Collamore was Vice President of Philip Morris Corporate Affairs, the department responsible for implementing programs aimed at thwarting efforts to reduce smoking). The amount the insurers spent was more than AHIP's entire budget from 2008, and accounted for 40 percent of the Chamber's 2009 spending.The Chamber disclosed the funding in annual tax records required by the U.S. government.