Download IE8 and feed the hungry

IE8Nate · 11 Jun 2009

jimbo45 said:

My only problem as I sepcified in my previous post is that Aid shouldn't be channeled directly to corrupt governments - but directly to the recipients.

If MS can do this the fine and good - but if they are just acting as a "mega collection agency" which will then hand over barrell loads of cash over to the usual "Government" agencies for distribution then I'm out.

Cheers
jimbo

Jimbo,
Microsoft will be donating an amount of money equivalent to 8 meals per download to the organization Feed America. The Feeding America network secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually, and supports approximately 63,000 local charitable agencies that distribute food directly to Americans in need. To learn more, click here.

So you can be confident that you're making a difference by downloading IE8 here.

-Nate

A member of the IE8 Outreach Team.

Night Hawk · 11 Jun 2009

IE8Nate said:

Jimbo,
Microsoft will be donating an amount of money equivalent to 8 meals per download to the organization Feed America. The Feeding America network secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually, and supports approximately 63,000 local charitable agencies that distribute food directly to Americans in need. To learn more, click here.

So you can be confident that you're making a difference by downloading IE8 here.

-Nate

A member of the IE8 Outreach Team.

Timely post! Now I have a little more on this to pass along!

12eason · 11 Jun 2009

Keep deleting my post why don't you, wouldn't want to offend the dear sweet [strike]PR[/strike] 'Outreach' guy from microsoft.

What is it with bias mods on this site? Are you all microsoft shills?

smarteyeball · 11 Jun 2009

12eason said:

Are you all microsoft shills?

No :)

It's quite simple really. There's no denying it's good publicity for MS and IE8. One million is chump change for them. For that one million they gain some 'good will' PR as well as promoting IE8. That's a double Win for MS. On the flipside, it's a win for the hungry.

However the last time I checked, nobody does "something for nothing", especially corporations. There's always a price. In this case, a few downloaded megabytes.

It may be an insipid form of marketing, but since it's only a few mb and you aren't required to actually install it, sometimes the ends do justify the means.

12eason · 11 Jun 2009

smarteyeball said:

nobody does "something for nothing"

Except for, you know, that 'charity' thing. A concept obviously lost on quite a few, including the MS PR department.

On the flipside, it's a win for the hungry.

It would be even more of a win if the donation wasn't dependant on anything. Is it really that difficult to grasp?

Slimy · 11 Jun 2009

12eason said:

It would be even more of a win if the donation wasn't dependant on anything. Is it really that difficult to grasp?

I hope you realize that could spun right back at you. "It would be even less of a win if there was no donation. Is it really that hard to grasp?" Microsoft could have simply put $1 million towards promoting IE8 some other way. This is better than nothing.

12eason · 11 Jun 2009

Slimy said:

I hope you realize that could spun right back at you. "It would be even less of a win if there was no donation. Is it really that hard to grasp?" Microsoft could have simply put $1 million towards promoting IE8 some other way. This is better than nothing.

I'd rather a corporation be amoral than have it dress up its depravity in a thin veneer of 'charity'. Doing nothing would be a step up, morally, over turning American poor people into PR gimmicks.

Let them do nothing, and tax the hell out of them instead.

Slimy · 11 Jun 2009

That's a terrible way to look at it. If I was hungry and someone gave me food, I wouldn't care if the money that paid for it came from a PR stunt or if it came from Ghandi. If you were starving I doubt you'd say no to food if you knew it was paid for by a marketing campaign.

smarteyeball · 11 Jun 2009

12eason said:

It would be even more of a win if the donation wasn't dependant on anything. Is it really that difficult to grasp?

No, it's not difficult grasp. Unfortunately that's just the way it works.

Slimy said:

Microsoft could have simply put $1 million towards promoting IE8 some other way. This is better than nothing.

Exactly. They aren't obliged to give anybody anything. Despite the methods, at least this way some needy people may actually benefit.

12eason · 11 Jun 2009

smarteyeball said:

Exactly. They aren't obliged to give anybody anything. Despite the methods, at least this way some needy people may actually benefit.

Actually they most probably are. at least in the sense of financial best practice. From what I know of American law, there are considerable incentives for corporations to give to charity, including but not limited to reductions in taxes on dividends.

Chances are that this money was already earmarked for 'charity' but microsoft have just found a new way to add 'value' to the donation.

I mean, they obvious don't care about actual charity, because this is all happening at the same time as this;
http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=63B...239976114D2137