Quote:
Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger
Yeah but no one is angry at Bell (well except the OP of this thread, but no one either of you have responded to anyway). Literally all the OP did was say that it seemed like a wasted of money to spend so much on swag.
Seems like a reasonable criticism to me. I think we all know no company would do this from a purely altruistic standpoint, but his concern based on his personal experience with Bell's swag boxes, does not somehow negate the positive of the Let's Talk day.
There is no reason to be hostile to anyone who merely suggests that they could improve how they do this.
I have concerns about the effectiveness of this type of awareness campaign as it represents a type of slacktivism that makes people feel like they've helped achieve something positive, even though they may have literally done nothing. To me that is actually counterproductive to any initiative because it may decrease much needed financial support since people feel satisfied with their promotion of awareness and slacktivism. It is essentially passing the buck.
I'm neither proud of, nor angry at, Bell. Frankly I don't give a hoot about Bell. I care about mental health facilities being funded, built or at the very least prevented from being closed. I care about more mental health professionals being hired and more workplaces taking mental health seriously. And my priorities and feelings on this subject do not diminish any positive work Bell may do. These things are not mutually exclusive. It is possible that I, and others, may feel like Let's Talk is a start, but on the whole woefully inadequate and insufficient to help deal with real mental health issues.
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What a silly post. Calling it slacktivism is just foolish.
They have donated millions to mental health research. Over $80 million dollars to the campaign which includes money to hospitals and for organizations that help with the mentally ill.
And you have "concerns"? How can something be a waste of money when it isn't your money and it's not government money? If Bell wants to spend millions to buy buttons and T shirts to raise awareness about mental health and to diminish the stigma of mental health and get people to feel comfortable talking about their problems then good on them. They're doing a lot more for mental health progress than you've ever done in your entire life for any organization period.
You seem to be an expert on how other people should spend their money, feel free to tell us how you donate your money and time to charity.