Bristol Palin Makes More Than $250K for Pregnancy Prevention Campaign

April 6, 2011 — -- From the moment cameras first glimpsed 17-year-old Bristol Palin pregnant alongside her former fiance, family and mother who was aspiring to be the next vice president, she became a poster child and later spokeswoman for teenage pregnancy prevention.

Three years later, Palin has become well-compensated for speaking against teen pregnancy. The non-profit group the Candie's Foundation paid her a reported $262,500 to be an ambassador for teen-pregnancy prevention, a role that included a public service announcement in which she warned others not to follow in her footsteps.

"What if I didn't come from a famous family?" she asked in her 30-second PSA. "What if I didn't have their support? What if I didn't have all of these opportunities? Believe me, it wouldn't be pretty."

Speaking on ABC News' "Good Morning America" in 2009, shortly after accepting her role with Candie's, Palin told Chris Cuomo, "Abstinence is the only way you can effectively 100 percent prevent pregnancy. It's the safest choice and it will prevent teen pregnancy and a lot of heartache."

Those comments drew heavy and immediate criticism from many who viewed the message as hypocritical.

Now, her abstinence payday also is drawing fire because Candie's paid Bristol nearly seven times what they spent on other teen pregnancy prevention programs.

In a written statement to ABC News, Candie's said, "Ms. Palin was compensated for her work with the Foundation, which included appearing in video and print PSAs, two town hall meetings, and numerous media interviews. We know that Ms. Palin's work has had a positive effect on creating awareness about teen pregnancy."

But is it only about the message? Is spending $262,500, a figure reportedly posted online by the research firm GuideStar, really more effective than $35,000 spent for actual prevention?

Candie's cited an independent survey to ABC News that compared the Bristol Palin PSA with those of another national teen pregnancy organization that used non-famous teens. The Candie's survey found that more than twice as many teens (57 percent versus 27 percent) said Bristol's PSA "got my attention", three times as many (41 percent versus 11 percent) said it was "powerful", and more than twice as many (38 percent versus 16 percent) said it was "memorable."