As a lot of big companies, the company I work for does charity work. It has a partnership with a very well known charity, and has donated £1,000,000 to them over the last couple of years. The charity that benefits is extremely grateful. The money does a lot of good.
It’s not purely out of goodwill that companies do this kind of thing. They do it because it’s very beneficial to them. This is not only a tax write off, but it’s also good publicity. If a company has a partnership with a well known and highly respected charity the publicity generated can go on for months if not years, generating new custom for the business.
There’s nothing as strong as emotional manipulation. Take the case of GM foods (subject of a future blog). We’ve all seen the ads of the starving children in the third world and heard the rhetoric of feeding the world. This is a load of bullshit clearly geared to get the public on an emotional high. Will these companies be sending food to the third world out of the goodness of their heart? No. Will they be feeding people for free? No. This is more money in their pockets using your emotions against you. Very common, useful, strong manipulation. A lot of people fall for it. If they didn’t they wouldn’t use it.
Many companies use this kind of manipulation. The company name and logo is found along with the charities’ details. Looks very nice and makes people think the company is extremely ethical and cares about the community. We immediately think of the charity named, the work they do, who they help. Our emotions are straight away engaged. Any bad publicity can be offset by the fact that the company works so closely with the charity in question.
So whenever you see a company name next to that of any charity, take a look at what’s behind their motives. Yes the charity benefits, but the company isn’t doing it for that reason. This is in the best interests of the company. Look at the emotional feelings that the ads are generating. Are you going to fall for it?
I’d rather give to the charity directly.
