Politically Correct Disaster Support

Does anyone else feel that maybe there’s a little too much tsunami awareness these days? Maybe I’m speaking out of cynicism, but I don’t appreciate it when companies make it easier for me to support the tsunami relief efforts. If a local, independent business went out of its way to donate a percentage of its profits to the relief efforts, I wouldn’t necessarily question its motives. But when a big corporation includes a link on its website to the Red Cross or some other charity, I get the sense that the corporation knows it’s doing the politically correct thing. Let’s pretend to be concerned when tragedy occurs but otherwise let’s do whatever we can to turn a profit.

On a similar note, here’s a New York Times article about Wal-Mart’s response to criticism that it’s received. (Go to BugMeNot for a free login to the New York Times Web site.)