Don’t we all see those ASPCA and St. Jude’s commercials? The slow-motion camera shots of a starving dog gawking into the camera lens through the octagon aperture of a chain link fence with melancholy puppy eyes. Or a child dying of cancer, holding their beloved stuffed animal- the parents lamenting, holding each other, as they recount the nostalgic memories before their child was diagnosed with cancer- and how St. Jude’s helped their family. At the end of the commercial- a celebrity endorsing this non-profit organization profoundly extols what the organization has done for them- telling me to show our support with donations; in return, I get a gift for showing support. But shouldn’t my gift be the satisfaction of knowing I was able to help someone in need?
Where do these non-profit organizations get the money for these gifts? On the St. Jude website, it states, “82 cents of every dollar received from donations, research grants, insurance recoveries, and investment returns goes to support the current and future needs of St. Jude.” I would expect that every dollar donated would go to what I was informed it would go to when I watched the commercial. Now, I think of those devastating commercials of Sarah McLachlan singing to the images of animals in extreme distress- making an urgent appeal for donations to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or ASPCA. The ASPCA, however, is no better than St. Jude. According to CBS News (Axelrod, Jim; Towey, Megan; and Bailey Rachel. ASPCA spending may not be what donors expect, CBS News investigation finds), “The nonprofit told CBS News it spends 77 cents of every dollar on its mission to rescue, protect and care for animals in need, which, in addition to hands-on services, includes expenditures on mission-related public education and engagement.”
How the ASPCA uses celebrities like Sarah McLachlan for a rhetorical appeal to the audience; St. Jude and all the nonprofits do the same. On St. Jude’s website, we find many commercials of celebrity endorsements: Michael Strahan, Sofia Vergara, Luis Fonsi, Chip and Joanna Gaines. St. Jude’s website states, “See why they support St. Jude, and remember that it’s because of donors like you that families will never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food.” The purpose of putting celebrities on our Television screens is to convince me that as celebrities, liked by many, to do something good and encourage me to do the same- I should do the same. In these televised advertisements, celebrities impart St. Jude’s promise, “Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.” Although a celebrity endorses this statement, should we believe it?
Take, for example, Jason Burt, the father who slept in his truck in the parking lot of a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital- because St. Jude provides housing for only one parent. According to the ProPublica article, “‘St. Jude Hoards Billions Many of Its Families Drain Their Savings’,” families may not receive a bill from St. Jude, but the hospital does not cover what is often the substantial cause of financial stress correlated to childhood cancer; the loss of income as parents have to quit or take leave from jobs so they can be with their child during treatment.
What I must understand: I am not the victim of where and what- the money I willingly donate- goes toward. If the money I donate does not go to the nonprofit organization I intended it to go to but instead to a terrorist organization- it’s my fault for not doing the research. It’s my fault for not being a healthy consumer who learns the context of a nonprofit advertisement asking for donations. The people who handle the nonprofit organizations are also not the victims. Unsurprisingly, for some, the victims are the kids with cancer and the abused animals used as bait to reel in our donations; that is before a rival nonprofit organization can get the donations of someone who usually donates somewhere else. It’s like a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos. Former executive vice president at the ASPCA, Jo Sullivan, states in the article (Axelrod, Jim; Towey, Megan; and Bailey Rachel. ASPCA spending may not be what donors expect, CBS News investigation finds) states, “We need our donors and the people in our community to know where their money is going.”
So, when I’m watching TV, and the commercial with a young, innocent child- lying in a hospital bed, wearing a hospital gown with dark bags under their eyes, undergoing a round of chemotherapy comes on: should I change the channel? No. So, why should I let the camera shots of a child unaware of their impending death guilt trip my ethics into changing the channel? If I can’t afford to donate or don’t have the time to do so- I will not be changing the channel. I refuse to beat myself up over having no way of helping those asking for donations. I will not let the background noise of a celebrity who grievously informs me of the staggering statistics of how many children die a year from cancer- and try to make me feel uncomfortable and guilty for doing nothing to help- when I am doing something to help. By listening to the statistics and the stories of the children and parents- I am educating myself on the struggles of an obstacle I am fortunate enough to have not been confronted with.
The redundant saying I’ve heard my whole life, “Do the right thing, even when no one is watching,” is not entirely true. The reason that I would donate to a charity like St. Jude’s is because I want other people to recognize me as a good person- many of us would do the same. We do good things for others to benefit the image of ourselves. There is no problem with this- it is human nature to use philanthropy as a way of forging our image to appease the expectations of society. The expectation that you do the right thing, even when no one is watching. A realistic situation of this happening would be: I nonchalantly slide into conversation, how I donated money to a non-profit organization, secretly hoping to be lauded for my good actions. I act ignorant of the praise I receive and remain blithe composure. Deep down, I’m indulgent and hedonistic of the unwavering attention.
We are an audience of consumers- consumers of advertisements in the media. The content we have placed in front of our faces, and we are the credulous consumers of the content. Instead of not researching the validity of what we are donating to, it’s vital that we, as consumers of advertisements in the media, are more prudent about the authenticity and integrity of who and what we show support for.
