Which pink ribbon products make the biggest impact?

Every October, as pink-ribbon products blossom throughout store aisles, consumers face a thorny issue: Will the money I pay for this product really help in the fight against breast cancer or am I just falling for a marketing gimmick? The dilemma has been made sharper by a backlash against "pink-washing," or the use of the pink ribbon by corporations to sell more products with little or none of the resulting funds going to a charity (I detailed this growing problem on DailyFinance last year).

At stake is the millions of dollars spent annually on pink-ribbon products that actually go toward a charity. While no one tracks overall contributions to breast-cancer research through such products, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, one of the largest U.S. breast-cancer foundations, expects to bring in $50 million from pink-branded products this year. That's a significant chunk of money for the group, which during its last fiscal year raised $171 million from its series of running races. The donations from pink-ribboned products enables Susan G. Komen to fund research grants, says Cristina Riccio Kenny, manager of corporate relations for the foundation.