The Candie's Foundation, founded by CEO of Iconic Group Neil Cole, was a non-profit organization promoting abstinence-only education through paid advertising campaigns.
[9] More than 20 celebrities have been hired to participate in Candie's Foundation PSA campaigns, including Vanessa Hudgens, Usher, Macy Gray, Rihanna, Ciara, Amar'e Stoudemire, Ashanti Douglas, Lupe Fiasco, Jennifer Hudson, Michael Sorrentino, Kenneth Cole, Matt Garza, Hilary Duff, Ashley Tisdale, Ashlee Simpson, Fall Out Boy, Vanessa Minnillo, Natasha Bedingfield, Fergie, Elizabeth Berkley, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, and Destiny's Child.
[3] After investigations in 2003, Neil Cole and Candie's reached an agreement to settle charges of fraudulent accounting practices brought against it by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
From the $1,242,476 donated by the public, $35,000 went to charities and a $262,500 paycheck was given to Bristol Palin for her role as an ambassador for their teen pregnancy prevention campaign in 2009,[16] who again became pregnant out-of-wedlock to an unconfirmed father in 2015.
[17] In 2013, a group of young mothers, including Gloria Malone and Natasha Vianna, petitioned Candie's to eliminate stigma, sexism, and racism from their teen pregnancy prevention campaigns [18] and requested a meeting with Cole.