Save the Boobies B:Assmaster

[benecol]

GO MALEKKO!

Yeah, his pedals aren't for free, after all.

BUH-BUH-BUH-BURN!

Mike, can I borrow a Box of Mike please?

[Mike]

Just don't sell it, that would be straight retarded after all.

[JamesSmann]

I don't see what the problem is. He builds pedals. He can use that to raise money for charity.

It seems like the charity is something close to his heart.

exactly. not everything deserves a cynical, cross-eyed stare down.

jesus.

[James]

Sometimes I question the way our culture deals with charity. A lot of sponsorship based things feature highly in that. There are times when they raise awareness to an extent where it gives added value that is worthwhile (such as the mass walks for breast cancer and that type of thing also adds the idea of people working together for a common goal which can be very beneficial), but often it would be better if the person being sponsored used the time and effort to do something productive and offer goods/services to the people they are asking money of. Gigs were the money raised goes to charity are a good example of a productive way of going about it, as in the busking for cancer idea or just a standard gig with the proceeds going to charity. You're giving something to people to encourage them to give to something you believe needs help. This guy selling the pedals is doing a similar thing. Assuming they cost the same as a normal version he is offering a product at what he already considers fair market value.

To clarify a little, here's an example of when I think charity is done badly - sponsored sitting in a bathtub full of beans. Give those beans to a homeless shelter and spend the time you would have spent sat in the bath doing something worthwhile and donate the proceeds of that to charity. Even if it means spending a day mowing lawns and then posting a cheque to the charity of your choice. Stop the attention seeking and get off your arse.

I'm not a big fan of the ribbon/wristband culture, but I do like the fact it gives an easy way for people to donate to causes they wish to donate to. I think it's quite common for people to use those as a way to straight donate and not take a ribbon.

[jcyphe]

try to be all Joe Liberal Cool Guy. But when companies promise to give PROFITS THAT WOULD NORMALLY GO INTO THEIR COMPANY OR INTO THEIR CEOs POCKETS to a very worthwhile cause you poo-poo it?

Consumerism masked as charity doesn't fit with my Joe Liberal Cool Guy philosophy I guess, okay Jimmy The Fuck-Faced Twat.

Why doesn't the company use it's own proceeds from a regular sale. They're making pedals anyway, if they wanted to give a portion, they could do so without advertising it. Or do they figure people are more likely to buy, with the charity hook? And if that's the case it's just consumerism pretending to be charity.

Real charity for me involves sacrifice. These sorts of things are just sales gimmicks.

[robroe]

tax write offs

[robroe]

my store had a whole "think pink" section full of pink shit in October.

this is how it really works on a large retail scale in the real world:

1. pick a vendor, lets take ISOTONER for example. they produce a pink umbrella and stitch a little ribbon on it.
2. they sell that shit, get a tax write off for giving to a non for profit
3. BON TON (my company) buys it and gets a tax write off for donating $ to non for profit.
4. you buy the item at full price because discounts do not apply since its "for charity"
5. your money doesn't GO TO ANYTHING because the item was already purchased from the vendor by the retailer and the non for profit already got thier 1$ or whatever per item weather you actually purchase the thing or if it sits on the fucking shelf for the rest of its life.

6. for items that dont sell we just mark them down to clearance after christmas like any other color shit and sell it for cheap because we already got our tax write off by contributing to a non for profit org.


CONSUMER POCKET MONEY DOESN'T GO ANYWHERE BUT TO THE RETAILER AND THAT'S IT. YOU AREN'T HELPING SHIT. HAVE A NICE DAY.

[robroe]

do you guys that buy the pink vitemen water at the gas station really think that the guy running the cash register has a magic button to donate $1 to breast cancer from you?

the donation has already been made by vitemen water, and the gas station pays the premium when they purchase it from the vendor. no matter if you purchase it or if it sits there in the cooler forever

it works the same way with name brands of all kinds of shit.


they only way your dollar would actually effect anyone for a product you purchase is if you bought something very mom and pop, like organic tomatoes from a roadside stand from the farm that sells the tomatoes. if they have a sign up there that says $1 from every bunch of tomatoes is going towards Hilary's Donkey's Vet Bills. thats charity.

[jcyphe]

That was scientific.

[robroe]

there are other instances though that don't involve specific vendors.


an example is on national AIDS day...(its in december i cant remember what day im sorry) BON TON donates 1% of every sale when you use your store charge to some sort of AIDS research org. that is just straight money we are giving to the org that you give us for any product. millions of dollars at the end of the day. we have over 300 stores from Vt to Idaho


BUT. to make the donation you have to put it on your charge which is like 26% interest after the month is up. so we are making 25% on you instead of 26% for that purchase because you have to use your store charge. so we still fuck you.


you can always pay your card off at any time at any register though. you don't even need your bill. so its your own fucking fault we are fucking your ass buried in credit debt

[robroe]

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HOW WE FUCK YOU.


pink sweatshirt costs 20 bucks and never goes on sale because its for charity, and is located in a seperate part of the store with all the other pink shit.
blue sweatshirt exactly like the pink one costs 11.99 on the same day.


we just charged you 7 dollars extra for something and convinced you to do it because a portion of it goes to breast cancer research. we never tell you how much of a portion. no one really bothers to ask. i know if someone asked me i would have no fucking idea. i could go into a long speach about varying percents that the vendors charge us vs. the portion of tax write off we get for the purchase but i don't think the customer would understand but believe me when i tell you it aint 7 bucks

[Skip]

i hear ya robroe-- its all true
i run a charity event every year
proceeds go to a cause
you can bet my costs, time and salary are covered before i even think of proceeds
i make good money on it
then i give a good amount to charity
i win--- charity wins

but fyi proceeds can mean anything
i make a few thousand and so does the charity
but if i was nasty i could make much more and send them 100 bucks
i dont ever do that(karma would kick my ass)
but proceeds is a tricky word
and tax write offs are tricky bastards themselves

[jimib]

my store had a whole "think pink" section full of pink shit in October.

this is how it really works on a large retail scale in the real world:

1. pick a vendor, lets take ISOTONER for example. they produce a pink umbrella and stitch a little ribbon on it.
2. they sell that shit, get a tax write off for giving to a non for profit
3. BON TON (my company) buys it and gets a tax write off for donating $ to non for profit.
4. you buy the item at full price because discounts do not apply since its "for charity"
5. your money doesn't GO TO ANYTHING because the item was already purchased from the vendor by the retailer and the non for profit already got thier 1$ or whatever per item weather you actually purchase the thing or if it sits on the fucking shelf for the rest of its life.

6. for items that dont sell we just mark them down to clearance after christmas like any other color shit and sell it for cheap because we already got our tax write off by contributing to a non for profit org.


CONSUMER POCKET MONEY DOESN'T GO ANYWHERE BUT TO THE RETAILER AND THAT'S IT. YOU AREN'T HELPING SHIT. HAVE A NICE DAY.

dont isotoner have to send the proceeds onto the charity before they can claim the tax write off?
meaning some (however small the %) of the money goes to charity.

[Jackackack]

They are neat sounding.

[mewithoutus]

rob,

you make some good points and you are pretty knowledgeable on how that shit works through retail, and you are right, that is shitty and not a very good way to go about charity giving.

however, thats not how its done with malekko. he doesnt get pink enclosures that he gets a tax right off from. he gets the same enclosures he always gets from the supplier and he paints them himself. then he builds the pedals, sells them, recoups cost (of course, or he would just be bleeding money from every sale, which is not productive) and any profit made from the pedals goes to the breast cancer charity. he is donating his time to help a cause he believes in. i dont see how you guys are missing that. he is not making any money off of the sale of these pedals. any profit (profit ie; profit) goes to charity. he breaks even, which = him losing money for his labor and time he spent that he coulda been spending building pedals he makes money off of.

jcyphe, i understand your distaste for fake corporate charity and i share your sentiment. however, you are just wrong here. you are putting a big business ceo level template over a tiny business. it is different.

i think this is a really cool way to get musicians involved in breast cancer awareness, and to get them to help.

it comes down to this: participate or dont. buy a pink fuzz or dont. dude is doing a really honorable thing by doing this, and putting him down is low.

also, in b4 MEWMAN GOT A FREE PEDAL FROM MALEKKO AND SOLD IT WHAT A DICK, because that shit wasnt free, he got a superfuzz in trade. lurk harder you fucktwats.

[benecol]

also, in b4 MEWMAN GOT A FREE PEDAL FROM MALEKKO AND SOLD IT WHAT A DICK, because that shit wasnt free, he got a superfuzz in trade. lurk harder you fucktwats.

Not quite the way he tells it though, is it? Almost as if a pedal you were sent, in good faith, to try out, you sold? Anyhow...

[Mike]

Why would Malekko lie about it?

[mewithoutus]

nope, youre wrong. in fact, he told me if anyone gives me shit to, and i quote, "Tell them to fuck off and call me."
josh's exact words.

so, you are free to fuck off. and call him if you really need to be all up in our business.

[Mike]

And you wonder why you're unliked in certain quarters.

It's hardly a mystery to me.

[benecol]

...he told me if anyone gives me shit to, and i quote, "Tell them to fuck off and call me."
josh's exact words.

Maybe this is just what he wants you to think.