Corporations give to philanthropic campaigns, but for own advancement
While waiting in line at Market One with my cup of steamy liquid energy, a pink-adorned sign proclaiming “Every Lid Matters” caught my sleepy eye. It was a Yoplait sign encouraging buyers of its yogurt to save the pink lids and send them back to the company. For every lid, Yoplait would donate ten cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization that supports breast cancer research.
Good for Yoplait. Its generosity should be applauded and imitated. Oh, I forgot to mention that Yoplait don’t accept lids that aren’t pink, and if you happen to send them in after Dec. 31, you’re out of luck. Also, be extra careful when opening your yogurt because, according to Yoplait’s Web site, the company won’t accept partial lids. So Yoplait might have a few picky rules, but at least it is doing something good, right?
Consider this: women probably buy more yogurt than men, so for Yoplait, supporting breast cancer research is a smart marketing move, because women will naturally be more concerned about a typically-female disease. So, if Yoplait supports breast cancer research, then they might sell more yogurt than its competitors. If Yoplait found out that its primary-customer base was men, I guarantee that it would switch to donating ten cents for prostate cancer.
Instead of giving for the sake of giving, corporations are hiding behind the guise of charity to either sell more products or better their public image. It’s an issue of motives, and Yoplait isn’t the only one with ulterior motives. Martin’s grocery store which recently opened here in Harrisonburg decoratd the front of their store with giant checks made out to various local organizations like the Harrisonburg Fire Department and Police Department. Does Martin’s really care about the community it serves or does it just want us to feel warm and fuzzy inside? Perhaps I should start framing checks of donations that I have made and hang them around my house. People would see what a nice guy I am.
Apple sells a “Product Red” iPod to help fight AIDS in Africa. In his keynote address this past September, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, “If you want to do something about these diseases in Africa, you can buy a Product Red [iPod] shuffle.” So, spend an extravagant amount of money on an iPod and feel good about yourself because Apple will send a tiny fraction of that money for the AIDS epidemic. If you were an African child who was impoverished and dying of AIDS, would you believe that some North American was acting graciously toward you by buying an iPod? If so, I never knew giving could be so self-gratifying. Again, I inquire about motives: does Apple really care about AIDS or do they just want to project a good company image?
Finally, we must turn the mirror of truth to ourselves. Our reasons for giving aren’t always rooted in the purest of motives either. Even when doing something as selfless as volunteering at a soup kitchen, there are always hidden motives. Perhaps we are volunteering to satisfy a class requirement, or maybe we want to feel good about ourselves. These aren’t the noblest of motives, but sometimes we can’t help but have them. This doesn’t mean that we should give up charity all together, but rather, we should align ourselves with the “good motives,” while trying our best to mitigate any ulterior motives.
The corporate machine is a poor infrastructure for charity. Living in an industrialized consumerist society, it is easy to forget that corporations don’t care about you, me, or the AIDS crisis. They only care about the bottom line.
Yoplait will give no more than $1.5 million for breast cancer research. If it receive extra lids totaling beyond that amount, it simply ignores them. In contrast, if only half of the U.S. population gave ten cents for breast cancer, we would raise over $15 million.Buying products isn’t the answer to solving the worlds problems, we are.
David Crabtree is a senior philosophy and religion major.
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