p. drew :

p. Here is a link to the leading causes of death in America.

This marketing stunt is just that…a stunt.  And not a “cause campaign”.

Let me know when you really give a crap, MTV and FourSquare…and we can teach people how to make a real difference.  For others, and for themselves.

Maybe Gowalla or Facebook would like to make a real difference? Gimme a buzz folks.

Oh and MTV? Want to squash STD’s? Try cancelling Jersey Shore.

Foursquare is turning into a bad media joke.

I shouldn’t wade into this, but… is the argument here that there are bigger problems? Because that’s always sort of true, isn’t it? It’s almost paralyzing, actually, thinking that no matter what you’re doing, there is a bigger problem out there? I actually don’t have a hard and fast belief on this – it’s something I wrestle with all the time: is it enough to help int he ways you can, or is it required that we all give everything only to the most important causes? People getting tested for STDs seems like a worthy idea. Is it world changing? The most important thing? No, of course not, but… that doesn’t make it bad. And of course commerce, capitalism, taint, I get all that. But… man. I dunno. There are actually sorta scary and depressing ramifications for charitable giving in America if people start boycotting companies who do sorta lame cause campaigns. 

And, of course, I could be accused of saying just the opposite recently on another topic. Maybe I just like to be nice too much. 

(n.b. obvious conflicts of interest btwn me and 4sq apply)