I was reminded of an extremely annoying practice in this country (at least annoying to me). There’s this sign at a booze shop around the corner that encourages folks to turn in their Crown Royal bags (if you know what I’m talking about then you’re an adult); and in exchange for this little purple cotton bag, Crown Royal (or someone) will donate $1 towards “the troops”. This promotion represents two things that rub me so incredibly raw that it causes a rash that can only be calmed by some rare aloe gel from a plant deep in the jungle somewhere in Columbia. First; the idea of providing essentially a “proof of purchase” for a $30 bottle of whiskey in the hopes of getting $1 to a cause is so incredibly callous and almost predatory. “We promise to donate a dollar… but only after we’ve made some money, cause… capitalism!”. I am all for a profiting business trying to grow, but if you want to support a cause… just give the damn money! Show some real support by taking the change out of your proverbial pocket and dumping it in the red bucket so that (for the love of god!) the man will stop ringing the bell! All this promotion tells me is that Crown Royal wants to APPEAR to care while not actually dropping their bottom line. This appearance to me is more deplorable then just not donating at all. The second part of the annoyance is that once again the “for the troops” is being thrown out as a method to fleece people for some kind of funding. It’s not so much that I believe this money isn’t actually going to our well deserving men and women whom serve this country, but that their name is being used in vain to gain a higher profit margin this holiday season by a corporate entity. At the end of it, this is just a cheap advertising campaign akin to the “groupon type” programs for small business that are fledgling (flailing?).
Now the heart of this is… “WHY?” Why do these things bother me? Am I just so bored with my life that I can let something so seemingly innocent grate away at my soul like an old rusted kitchen appliance to dry parmesan? I believe I am bothered because like many other people across the world, I am growing exhausted of seeing “the lie” right in front of me everyday. I truly believe that the vast majority of humans on this planet have extraordinarily kind and helpful hearts. I believe that most of us would truly help “the troops” or “the kids” or whomever if we were allowed to believe that there was some real help needed AND being provided following our donation. We have traveled too far down the “public relations tunnel” though and now are forced to play the skeptic. I no longer see a request to donate or fund raise as an opportunity to help, but as some tricksy way for someone to line their pockets with another layer of insulation from being “less rich”.
How far off base am I?
