Tesco's "Screw the Children's Charity" campaign continues
Special offers at Tesco this week include:
- Yoplait Frubes (9 pack) – Buy One Get One Free (€2.69 each)
- Marques de Leon Red and White Wines (75cl) – €4 each
- Breakfast Deal – Denny Gold Medal Sausages (227g), Hickory, Maple or Traditional Rashers (180g) and Black and White Pudding (199g) – buy all 3 for €4
Most of these offers are valid until Sunday August 2. Click here for more details, and please let our readers know if you spot any particularly good or bad value instore.
Tesco are also continuing their price-cutting campaign, and promise over 12,000 long-term price cuts in store. They’re continuing to call it “Change for Good”, but I’ll be referring to it from now on as the “Screw the Children’s Charity” Campaign.
This is because Tesco – a giant, multinational conglomerate with billions of euro at its disposal- have given the two fingers to children’s charity Unicef by refusing to alter their latest marketing campaign.
Within the past few months, you’ll all have seen or heard Tesco’s “Change for Good” slogan to promote their long-term price cuts. However, the slogan has been used by Unicef since 1987 for a campaign with ten international airlines (including Aer Lingus) where passengers donate their spare change. According to Unicef’s Executive Director Melanie Verwoerd, Tesco told them in a meeting last May that they would be running a low-key, below the radar in-store campaign. “But it is a major campaign,” she said.
The Irish Times quotes Verwoerd:
It is the first time in Unicef’s history that a commercial entity has purposely set out to capitalise on one of our campaigns and subsequently damage an income stream which several of our programmes for children are dependent on.. We fail to understand why a company with a multimillion-euro advertising budget finds it necessary to use a children’s charities slogan which we have spend years developing.
Tesco’s miserable response?
Unicef need have no concern over any confusion for consumers… Our ‘Change for Good’ programme has proven very popular with consumers who have seen significant reductions in the price of groceries as confirmed by the National Consumer Agency’s survey this week.
We generally have a policy of keeping non-food related issues off this blog, but I couldn’t in good conscience promote Tesco’s latest bargains and special offers without pointing out what a shower of rotten, soulless corporate drones are running this megabusiness. Tesco: corporate social responsibilty does matter; I suspect you’ll learn this in the years to come.
Monday 27 July, 2009 at 3:28 pm
I read this in the Irish Times. I was absolutely shocked by their “answer” that they weren’t aware of the charity’s slogan. Fe**ers!
Monday 27 July, 2009 at 3:43 pm
UNICEF are seriously over-reacting here – crass by Tesco maybe, but how is it damaging UNICEF?
I’d never heard of their campaign until now, so if anything its offering them the opportunity for extra publicity – they should have asked Tesco for a donation rather than calling for a daft boycott.
Monday 27 July, 2009 at 4:19 pm
I have long been boycotting Tesco, even though its my nearest supermarket, because of their bully tactics. Tesco’s food is cheap and I’m not just talking price. People who feel strongly about this should no longer shop there. First it was pushing out all the small Irish producers, now this! Vote with your feet people!
Monday 27 July, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Seconded Jenny. I never would give a second thought to where I shopped until tesco started their policy on irish products. I lve near their new douglas store and a walk in the aisles there is like being in Derby, Reading, Luton or any other depressing british town.
Monday 27 July, 2009 at 5:01 pm
TBH, I can’t see how Tesco’s use of this slogan will impact the UNICEF campaign – which is pretty low-profile as it is. In any case, I don’t think anyone is going to confuse Tesco with UNICEF.
Monday 27 July, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Yes, this particular ranting at Tesco is bizarre. UNICEF doesn’t own the phrase, they might even get some positive spill-over if anything, and the money UNICEF gets from people with the wrong currency coins at the end of a trip is not really dependent on any advertising or sloganing whatever.
Tuesday 28 July, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Google Unicef Change for Good, and what comes up? A Tesco ad.
Its not that it is impeeding Unicefs’ campaign, which of course is dependant on advertising, its Tescos’ self serving Ryanair-esque attitude.
Wednesday 29 July, 2009 at 12:04 am
We have a lot of power when we open our wallets.
Even on my low budget I can still use my shopping to make choices, I can still avoid or buy certain products, I can support certain shops or companies and I can avoid those I disapprove of.
I have avoided Tesco for a long time and will continue to do so.
I guess all the major shops have their faults and most likely engage in some unethical behaviour.
We make compromises as we must.
It’s still good to be able to use wallet-power to assert some personal stand, it may not be a grand stand but it does count.
Wednesday 5 August, 2009 at 11:41 am
Hey, just a quick note to let you know that Tesco don’t appear to be advertising any specials this week. There’s probably some reductions in store, but I won’t be in Tesco this week. Late night shoppers usually find a number of items reduced to clear.