Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The rise of pity marketing

newstatesman.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 78 posts

Re: The rise of pity marketing

#41

Post by NoZebra120vClip »

silisili wrote: post #30
apsurd wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also shark tank. i joke with my brother: "here comes the pitch, product, gross sales, and btw i have cancer, my mom has cancer." It's a cold joke. My mom had cancer. It's not the having of cancer i'm annoyed of obviously. How in the hell is this relevant to... oh right. it's a fucking national televised show. It's competing with The Bachelorette. sigh. curmudgeons unite. i enjoyed your comment. feel seen!

Yes! I forgot about that one, one of the worst offenders. "Here is my new idea. It's a diaper for parakeets." "Why would anyone want that?" (crying) "Because, because, sorry guys. My mom passed this year and I promised myself I wouldn't cry. She just loved parakeets" "OK, here is a million dollars" The whole schtick is so ridiculous I find it pretty offensive.

"My mom contracted cancer from touching so much parakeet guano..."

Re: The rise of pity marketing

#42

Post by randunel »

NoZebra120vClip wrote: post #40
username332211 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But for the sake of those that aren't, maybe let's leave them be and not raze to the ground what's emerged as a stand-in for actual social support and strong kinship ties? Who is that "we" that could raze social media pity to the ground? In places infested by fake beggars we don't hold council meetings where we decide to stop giving them money. When I see that my compassion is being taken advantage of, I become les…

Rather than allow my compassion to be decimated, or chipped away bit by bit, I simply outsource my compassion. I never take pity on individuals, whether they are begging at the train station, a grocery store, or somewhere on the Internet. No pity for individual situations. I absolutely cannot and will not trust someone's claims and I absolutely cannot judge their worthiness for charity. I give generously to charitabl…

> I give generously to charitable organizations that do the most good. This is my religious obligation, and it's also the best way to maximize my bucks.

And they maximize your bucks with outlandish purchases for executives and "fund raising" parties for their selected few. I stopped caring for large NGOs when I found out how deeply corrupt their management is, including middle management.

If you want to help, don't give them money, donate your time or goods, instead. The vast majority of your money goes into managerial salaries, bonuses and needless services and purchases.

Look up the red cross or any other large organisation you may have in your area, they all do this without exceptions.

Re: The rise of pity marketing

#43

Post by NoZebra120vClip »

randunel wrote: post #42
NoZebra120vClip wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rather than allow my compassion to be decimated, or chipped away bit by bit, I simply outsource my compassion. I never take pity on individuals, whether they are begging at the train station, a grocery store, or somewhere on the Internet. No pity for individual situations. I absolutely cannot and will not trust someone's claims and I absolutely cannot judge their worthiness for charity. I give generously to charitabl…

> I give generously to charitable organizations that do the most good. This is my religious obligation, and it's also the best way to maximize my bucks. And they maximize your bucks with outlandish purchases for executives and "fund raising" parties for their selected few. I stopped caring for large NGOs when I found out how deeply corrupt their management is, including middle management. If you want to help, don't g…

Hey, randunel, thanks for mentioning the American Red Cross! In fact, I have anecdotes about them as well!

So about two weeks into the COVID-19 lockdowns, one of my upstairs neighbors set his apartment, and the unit next door, on fire. Like a big fire. The resultant fire, smoke, and water damage affected six units altogether, and the American Red Cross was right there on the scene, to render assistance and ensure that these families would not be turned out onto the streets. I didn't look closely at the news reports, but I didn't see any mention of randunel being there to help.

Then last year, an ex of mine suffered a fire in her very own flat in SF. She has been disabled with a major stroke, and her roommate was also displaced, escaping with only what they could carry and their cats. After the fire was doused, thieves wasted no time in breaking in to take whatever wasn't nailed down. Again, the American Red Cross was on the scene (randunel conspicuously absent) and a GoFundMe was launched.

As I stuck to my principles of donating to the best agency possible, I decided to send a few bucks to the AMR. In fact, I accidentally donated first to my local AMR, and then I doubled that by donating to the correct regional one in charge of San Francisco. I thought it to be quite appropriate to give back a little, since after all, they had helped my neighbors in need not long ago.

So if it weren't for the American Red Cross and their good deeds, many Americans would be homeless and lost after disasters, and I'm thankful to them for being there in our times of need.

Re: The rise of pity marketing

#44

Post by _a_a_a_ »

randunel wrote: post #42
NoZebra120vClip wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rather than allow my compassion to be decimated, or chipped away bit by bit, I simply outsource my compassion. I never take pity on individuals, whether they are begging at the train station, a grocery store, or somewhere on the Internet. No pity for individual situations. I absolutely cannot and will not trust someone's claims and I absolutely cannot judge their worthiness for charity. I give generously to charitabl…

> I give generously to charitable organizations that do the most good. This is my religious obligation, and it's also the best way to maximize my bucks. And they maximize your bucks with outlandish purchases for executives and "fund raising" parties for their selected few. I stopped caring for large NGOs when I found out how deeply corrupt their management is, including middle management. If you want to help, don't g…

Don't diss without actual links. "outlandish purchases for executives and fund raising parties" is shit-slinging and i'm tired of it from the minority of destructive wankers on HN (and elsewhere) that they can't see anything good, even a little, but have to presume the worst and pull it down. Your value in society is a net negative.

Re: The rise of pity marketing

#45

Post by SapporoChris »

NoZebra120vClip wrote: post #43
randunel wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I give generously to charitable organizations that do the most good. This is my religious obligation, and it's also the best way to maximize my bucks. And they maximize your bucks with outlandish purchases for executives and "fund raising" parties for their selected few. I stopped caring for large NGOs when I found out how deeply corrupt their management is, including middle management. If you want to help, don't g…

Hey, randunel, thanks for mentioning the American Red Cross! In fact, I have anecdotes about them as well! So about two weeks into the COVID-19 lockdowns, one of my upstairs neighbors set his apartment, and the unit next door, on fire. Like a big fire. The resultant fire, smoke, and water damage affected six units altogether, and the American Red Cross was right there on the scene, to render assistance and ensure tha…

The grandparent spoke of corruption. In your comment you ignored the corruption comment and instead commented how your community had benefited and that therefore you supported the organization.

By not addressing the corruption it could be interpreted that you're okay with corruption as long as you benefit from it. Was that your intention?

Re: The rise of pity marketing

#46

Post by [deleted] »

_a_a_a_ wrote: post #44
randunel wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I give generously to charitable organizations that do the most good. This is my religious obligation, and it's also the best way to maximize my bucks. And they maximize your bucks with outlandish purchases for executives and "fund raising" parties for their selected few. I stopped caring for large NGOs when I found out how deeply corrupt their management is, including middle management. If you want to help, don't g…

Don't diss without actual links. "outlandish purchases for executives and fund raising parties" is shit-slinging and i'm tired of it from the minority of destructive wankers on HN (and elsewhere) that they can't see anything good, even a little, but have to presume the worst and pull it down. Your value in society is a net negative.

[deleted]

Re: The rise of pity marketing

#47

Post by Mordisquitos »

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #6

Are we sure all the examples cited were manufactured? Isn’t it possible that in a lot of the examples, someone had a bad day and other people responded with kindness?

The implication isn't that the examples were manufactured. Rather, it is that once they had occurred, the subjects involved publicly shared the incidents with the express intent of self-promotion and not merely for emotional support — hence the term "pity marketing".

Re: The rise of pity marketing

#48

Post by NoZebra120vClip »

SapporoChris wrote: post #45
NoZebra120vClip wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, randunel, thanks for mentioning the American Red Cross! In fact, I have anecdotes about them as well! So about two weeks into the COVID-19 lockdowns, one of my upstairs neighbors set his apartment, and the unit next door, on fire. Like a big fire. The resultant fire, smoke, and water damage affected six units altogether, and the American Red Cross was right there on the scene, to render assistance and ensure tha…

The grandparent spoke of corruption. In your comment you ignored the corruption comment and instead commented how your community had benefited and that therefore you supported the organization. By not addressing the corruption it could be interpreted that you're okay with corruption as long as you benefit from it. Was that your intention?

alleged, unsubstantiated corruption, is that what you meant to write?

Re: The rise of pity marketing

#49

Post by [deleted] »

NoZebra120vClip wrote: post #48
SapporoChris wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The grandparent spoke of corruption. In your comment you ignored the corruption comment and instead commented how your community had benefited and that therefore you supported the organization. By not addressing the corruption it could be interpreted that you're okay with corruption as long as you benefit from it. Was that your intention?

alleged, unsubstantiated corruption, is that what you meant to write?

[deleted]

Re: The rise of pity marketing

#50

Post by noduerme »

brabel wrote: post #37
noduerme wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. This is such an original take. I think it's utterly fascinating and borderline genius - no joke - to tie this alleged impulse for pity/sympathy to the abandonment of family bonds in western culture. That abandonment is what allows individuals to pursue all these artistic and footloose paths without having to care for their elders, but it's also what alienates them from a framework of people who would care about…

> One has to ask: Are my kin only kind to my efforts out of some sense of mutual support rooted in guilt if they don't respond? I am not sure what you expect from your relatives... do you expect them to tell you objectively whether you're good? Are they experts guitar critiques?? Even if they were, do you think asking them for feedback would get you the most honest answer? Do you have children? Would you tell them ho…

I think you're reading me wrong. I'm saying that I've accepted exactly this: I was never as good as I wanted to be as a musician. I did always judge myself more quickly and more harshly than anyone else would. I did accept that it wasn't going to be a sustainable career.

I'm writing, in all earnestness, to say that I'm glad my 80 year old mom is still my biggest fan. For what it's worth, my father told me when I was 15 that I'd never be any good and I should give up music, so family isn't all roses. I was just drawing on this as an example of how family can alleviate that itchy need to be recognized which can lead people down a path of self-pity as opposed to a balanced view of their own importance (or lack thereof).

Post reply on HN