BUY (LESS) Questions Corporate Cause Marketing --
Encourages Less Consumption and Direct Donations to Charities --
Shopping is NOT a Solution

When donations are based on percentages of profit and the accounting methods are not transparent, you can spend $100 on a (RED) product with the notion that you're helping to save lives in Africa -- but there is no assurance that any of that $100 will actually reach the cause. Not one (RED) cent.

San Francisco, CA (PRWeb) February 28, 2007 -- The BUY (LESS) campaign was launched this week at www.buylesscrap.org by Words Pictures Ideas (WPI) www.wpiweb.com and Romantic Static www.romanticstatic.com as a response to the ubiquitous (RED) campaign www.joinred.com and other corporate cause marketing efforts. BUY (LESS) rejects the notion that shopping is a reasonable response to human suffering and provides a more meaningful option -- Give More.

The organizers of BUY (LESS) support genuine efforts to drive more money to charities. But, they openly question the efficacy of expensive and wasteful corporate retail cause marketing approaches like the (RED) campaign. WPI founder Ben Davis says, "When donations are based on percentages of profit and the accounting methods are not transparent, you can spend $100 on a (RED) product with the notion that you're helping to save lives in Africa -- but there is no assurance that any of that $100 will actually reach the cause. Not one (RED) cent."

The media has reported that close to $12 million dollars has been raised for The Global Fund www.theglobalfund.org through (RED) campaign sales so far. Yet, the number of advertising dollars spent has not been made public. BUY (LESS) organizers would support legislation to bring greater transparency to all corporate cause marketing efforts, enabling consumers to make more informed choices about their giving. Davis adds, "To spend what must amount to more than $100 million dollars on advertising to raise a tenth of that for charity seems a hollow investment. While we appreciate the good intentions, we want to stress that the way to really make a difference is to skip the purchase and donate directly to the charity."

The (RED) campaign benefits The Global Fund through sales of specialty items including clothing, cell phones, wristwatches, credit cards, iPods and sneakers. But, only small portions of (RED) product sales actually support the Global Fund's work to stop HIV/AIDS in Africa. BUY (LESS) encourages people to Give More to The Global Fund and to other worthy causes by providing direct access.

With a catchy URL, www.buylesscrap.org, the BUY (LESS) campaign's website features mock ads that parody the (RED) campaign and are designed to get people's attention. Most importantly, the site provides direct web links to charitable organizations. If a larger conversation is sparked about the unreasonable amount of advertising dollars spent on cause marketing campaigns--money that could be going directly to help people--then BUY (LESS) will have done its job.

BUY (LESS) supports giving without consuming and gives you a direct line to make a difference.

Shopping is not a solution
www.buylesscrap.org

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