Charitable Causes Indeed!

I'm noticing a very disturbing trend, mass marketing, merchandising and proffiting all in the name of charity. Seems like every magazine I flip through (flip through because I never have any time to read more than one a half pages at a time and generally by the time I get back to the magzine (potty break again) I've either forgotten what I was reading, lost my page or the Little People have decided to reinact the story of Noah in my bathroom thereby rendering all reading material within spashing distance or on the floor utter trash) I notice some thing disguised as charity. Either last month or this month is Breast Cancer Awareness month (I forget which month, I'm damn luck if I am aware of what freaking day it is when I wake up so don't expect me to be aware of "Fill-in-the-blank Awareness month"), a lot of merchandisers are offering cute little pink ribbon things where a portion (usually 1 % or so) will go to some kind of breast cancer fund. Target is not to bad in this area, they say that all of the proceeds from the sales of their Pink line of crap goes to a fund. Yoplait has a save the lid compaign - you save the lids, mail them back and they donate like $.10 a lid donation (up to $1.2 million) . All this bothers me. Not the giving to a charitable cause but the merchandising around it. If Yoplait is willing to donate $1.2 million then why don't they just do it and not have people mail back the nasty lids to their yogurt. And what-the-fuck-ever with the other merchandise. Why should I buy some overpriced running shoes? Because of the cute pink ribbon on them? So everyone will know that a portion of my money went to research ($2 from the $70 price tag)? Can't I just donate directly to the fund and not buy the crappy pink candles from Target? Do I have to become a walking billboard for a cause to show my support? I wonder is THIS the ONLY way people will donate to worthy causes? If there is a cute scarf/shirt/hat/cup/etc. in the exchange? Seems that more and more of the organizations giving to charities are using that to make themselves $$$.

Maybe I'm just being jaded and bitchy - which is entirely possible and probable, I'm tired, I didn't make much in commision today and I can't remember where my family is, no I didn't misplace them or anything, I just can't remember where they are supposed to be right now and I hope I'm not supposed to be picking them up. I need a nap.