Support Our Troops
Category None
I would like to say before I write anything, I fully support our troops, whether they be British, American, Australian, Polish and the two Philippino guys. But I have to ask how guillable people really are buying these stupid yellow support our troops magnets that are most likely made in China. Do we really think the guys in Iraq, Afghanistan or wherever can see all the magnets on the car? How exactly do the the profits of these magnets help our troops, is it paying for better intelligence? This morning I was feeling a little feisty so when I stopped for petrol I decided to ask my petrol station a few questions about the magnets they sell...
"How much is the sticker?"
"5 bucks"
"How does it support our troops?"
"It shows the county is united behind them."
"Do the troops get sent a regular report on how many cars now have magnets?"
"I don't think so"
"How much of the profits for the magnets goes to the troops, and how does it get distributed?"
"I don't know, the magnet isn't a for charity magent."
"Wow, so it's possible no money from this magent goes to charity?"
"It's possible, but I think it's highly unlikely, would you like one to support the troops?"
"No I'll skip it thanks, I'll bake them a cake instead."
So I am not convinced about these magnets, basically the petrol station buys them from the wholesaler like a packet of chewing gum and sells them at the best price he/she can get, if they want to donate their profits to some official charity that's fair enough, but I think most of them are not.
I would like to say before I write anything, I fully support our troops, whether they be British, American, Australian, Polish and the two Philippino guys. But I have to ask how guillable people really are buying these stupid yellow support our troops magnets that are most likely made in China. Do we really think the guys in Iraq, Afghanistan or wherever can see all the magnets on the car? How exactly do the the profits of these magnets help our troops, is it paying for better intelligence? This morning I was feeling a little feisty so when I stopped for petrol I decided to ask my petrol station a few questions about the magnets they sell...
"How much is the sticker?"
"5 bucks"
"How does it support our troops?"
"It shows the county is united behind them."
"Do the troops get sent a regular report on how many cars now have magnets?"
"I don't think so"
"How much of the profits for the magnets goes to the troops, and how does it get distributed?"
"I don't know, the magnet isn't a for charity magent."
"Wow, so it's possible no money from this magent goes to charity?"
"It's possible, but I think it's highly unlikely, would you like one to support the troops?"
"No I'll skip it thanks, I'll bake them a cake instead."
So I am not convinced about these magnets, basically the petrol station buys them from the wholesaler like a packet of chewing gum and sells them at the best price he/she can get, if they want to donate their profits to some official charity that's fair enough, but I think most of them are not.
Comments
If they're selling "support our troops" bracelets, on the other hand (like the LiveStrong ones Lance Armstrong pitches for cancer research), they'd better be giving the money to a charity - because all those bracelets support some charity or other. It's all about the expectations, I think.
Posted by Rob McDonagh At 06:34:51 PM On 04/05/2005 | - Website - |
The "Support Our Troops" thing is similar except that generally nothing's going to support anything but the profit margin of the seller. There are lots of better ways to actually support the troops (Navy Marine Corps Relief Society (http://www.nmcrs.org/) is a good one and there are others for the other branches). You just aren't going to get anything "in" to stick on your car/wrist, etc.
Posted by Scott Gentzen At 09:38:40 AM On 04/07/2005 | - Website - |
"We support the guy in china making these idiot magnets"
Posted by Chris At 01:00:04 PM On 04/07/2005 | - Website - |
Posted by JANET At 04:39:05 PM On 06/24/2005 | - Website - |