SUBSCRIBERonald McDonald House Charities
“Thank you! When you buy a Happy Meal, 50c is donated to Ronald McDonald House Charities.”
Is there something wrong with this poster found in a McDonald fastfood store? Come to think of it, a Happy Meal costs between 65 – 100 pesos (about a little less than $2.50 –> $1.5 – $2.3 to be exact) and a mere 50 centavos ($0.01) is donated to charities? Frankly, I’m not sure what the cost breakdown is but I’m a bit disturbed. Is this how a multinational corporation treat its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs?
CSR has been a byword by corporations for a few years now. The idea is noble: give back to the community or to the people the gains and blessings that big corporations has been reaping through activities and programs that benefit a community. These can be medical outreach programs, cleanups for the environment, educational contributions or giving to charities.
But sometimes, these activities are suspect. Some use it for tax breaks while others use it to deodorize negative publicity. There are also corporations who use it to make people think that when they part with their money to buy the company’s products, they are actually helping contribute to the betterment of a certain charity. But just $0.01? I couldn’t just believe it. I just think that McDonalds can do better than that!
