Please don't use a soldier's death to encourage me to buy a pizza
I’m a big proponent of good causes, and it warms the cockles of my heart when a big company donates money to a good cause. Private companies run our economy, and in almost all cases, they have the most money to give.
And I’m no public relations expert, but donating money is good for a company’s brand, in that it shows the public that it’s a caring, thoughtful company – characteristics that are appealing to consumers.
That’s why it grinds my gears that the Boston Pizza Centre on Barton in Hamilton is making a big deal out of the fact that it will give 10 per cent of its proceeds on Nov. 11 to the Marcus Cirillo Trust Fund.
Marcus Cirillo, of course, is the son of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, who was shot and killed at the National War Memorial on Oct. 22. The trust fund has been established to raise funds for Marcus’s future education.
A good cause, no question. Just not a good way for a corporation to go about supporting it.
See, what we’re forgetting here is that a full 90 per cent of the proceeds are going right back to Boston Pizza Centre on Barton. Ten per cent – I don’t even tip that little. And I’m a notoriously bad tipper.
So essentially, by asking people to “help us remember Cpl. Nathan Cirillo” by going to Boston Pizza and spending money, Boston Pizza on Barton is just using the soldier’s death to sell pizzas and increase their own proceeds on Remembrance Day, usually a quiet day for restaurants.
And that’s not very nice at all.
According to the restaurant’s press release, Cirillo was “a former employee of Boston Pizza” who worked for the restaurant “for a short time” but “left a lasting impact on our restaurant, our employees and our guests.”
Yeah, I’m not sure about that one, either. I doubt every employee who comes and goes from a restaurant leaves much of an impact on anyone … unless, of course, he’s suddenly involved in a national tragedy. That kid that flipped pizzas for three months in 2004 and went on to work at the auto plant? No one remembers him. Certainly not anyone who came in for a pie during those three months.
Like I said. I’m a proponent of good causes, and I think a fund for Marcus Cirillo is an important one. But if a Boston Pizza truly wanted to do a good deed, they would give a lump sum to the fund, or 10 per cent of the proceeds on a day they aren’t encouraging people to come in especially to raise proceeds for the fund.
It would be the right thing to do, and the right way to do it.
The Surly Old Man is a real old man who is particularly surly. He will contribute only when angry.
