a ti(red) debate?

Giving makes us feel good.  Frankly if it didn’t, we wouldnt do it, or we’d do it a whole lot less.

A  tempest is brewing in the philanthropy teapot over the RED campaign, which according to Ad Age has yielded a relatively modest $18 million for AIDS and other third world scourges.  On the other hand it has been a marketing bonanza for GAP and other RED marketers, who have spent many times $18 million to promote thier newfound public spiritedness.

You have to laugh at the  backlash site, BuyLessCrap.org, whose tagline is “Shopping is not the Solution.”  There’s at least a grain of truth there.  maybe more.

I am somewhere in the middle on this.  But here’s my worry — if we give because of the endorphin rush, and we get the same endorphin rush from buying a RED ipod (even though maybe two bucks gos to the charity), have we devalued the value of giving?

Do you know what I am trying to say?