.webp)
For last couple of weeks, I’ve been sick with a cold and sore throat. As a result of that and lack of energy, I’ve watched a lot of television. I mostly watched old episodes of Criminal Minds, Law and Order, and whatever else caught my eye. I didn’t have the energy or focus ability to find something on Netflicks or Prime or HBO.
Once good thing
about being older is my ability to remember whether I’d seen the episodes
before. There were a few where I knew what was going to happen, but so many
others were just like new episodes to me. What really caught my eye/attention;
however, were the commercials.
These ads were
for a wide variety of what had to be nonprofit companies trying to raise money
for their cause whether it was dogs, cats, elephants or children or fixing the
country in some way. I hate these commercials and wouldn’t donate a penny to
any one of them and here’s why.
Every single ad
asks the viewer to pledge $19.00 every single month forever. Why $19.00? Has
some ad reviewer reached the conclusion that this amount will really resonate
with the viewer? I have no idea. Another aspect of these commercials is how
they portray the immediacy of what my $19.00 will prevent, i.e., the animal won’t
starve, especially if I pledge right now. Seriously, how is my pledge going to
save an animal that’s on the verge of death? By the time the organization
acquired my first $19.00, the animal would be long gone.
The final thing
that irritated the hell out of me was the “gift” I’d receive once I pledged,
i.e., a plush or t-shirt. Why can’t these organization utilize those funds to
feed the poor starving creatures? And, okay, the cost of these “gifts” is
probably minimal, but if you put all those pennies together, you’d have enough
to buy some dog food.
These
commercials must work; however, because they play over and over; sometimes more
than once in the hour-long program. So, there must be people out there who take
a photo of the QR code and sign up to provide $19.00 to that organization
forever.
I don’t have a
lot of “disposable” income, but should I choose to make a gift to an
organization, you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll check them out on Charity
Navigator first. I tried that with a couple of the ones I saw and they weren’t
rated…wonder why???
I used a photo of a hyena because, while these organizations weren't asking me for funds to save them, in my opinion, they are closely related to this animal.