SaveWalterWhite.com - is it real website and is it still running?

TLDR; Yes and yes. But there’s more to it.

Warning: This post contains minor spoilers for AMC’s Breaking Bad.

I’m currently on my n’th rewatch of Breaking Bad and just made it to Season 2, Episode 12 the other night. This is the episode where Walter Jr. reveals his web development skills and launches the beautifully late-2000s DIY SaveWalterWhite.com to crowdfund his dad’s cancer surgery. Considering how much love and detail Vince Gilligan & co. put into this show, I had zero doubt in my mind that this website was 100% real when I typed in the URL into the address bar and hit ENTER.

It actually raised real money

When AMC originally launched the site to coincide with the episode, it wasn’t just a static prop. It included a fully functioning “Click Here to Donate” button, leveraging the show’s massive popularity to try and do some good in the real world.

For several years, clicking that button took you to the non-profit website of the National Cancer Coalition. It seemed like a massive success, reportedly bringing in around $125,000 in donations. The charity even played along, acknowledging Mr. Heisenberg himself on their landing page - a meta touch that I appreciate as a fan.

But wait, where did the money go?

It all seemed cool and good until August 2013. Just as the final season was ramping up, the Center for Investigative Reporting released a report that turned the whole thing on its head.

They named the National Cancer Coalition one of “America’s Worst Charities,” alleging that the organization funneled nearly all its donations into accounting and fundraising fees rather than actually helping patients. (You can read the full breakdown here).

AMC had to act fast. They quietly scrubbed the link to the charity and redirected the button to their own homepage instead and so it remains since then.

The website itself

Today, all of the main content of the website is wrapped with a click handler that redirects you to the merch shop:

document.getElementById("walter-container").onclick = function () {
    return (window.location.href = "http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad");
};

The visit counter at the bottom is provided by FreeCounters.co.uk, whose website is an equally retro piece of 2000s history.

As for the design itself, Walter Jr.’s creation takes me back to my own first attempts at building websites during that era. The color scheme is just chef’s kiss, and honestly, I feel it’s about time Comic Sans made an unironic comeback in 2026.

What did we learn?

I considered linking to a cancer charity here to honor the site’s original intent. However, given the moral of the story, I don’t feel I know enough to make a recommendation that will safely stand the test of time - so feel free to do your own due diligence if you want to support the cause.

I love when fiction bleeds into reality like this. It was a fun rabbit hole to dive into, and armed with this new knowledge, you and I can both be a bit more like Walter White:

He [my dad] knows the most random stuff. He’s always dropping the little facts about everything.

— Walter Jr. White, SaveWalterWhite.com