American Express: Just Sod Off Please
Posted by keith on June 20th, 2008
First prize for the most infuriating and patronising e-mail of the year so far goes to American Express for this hideous gem:
Good Afternoon,
Your readers have the next four weeks to think about their ideas to make a positive impact in the world.
Today, we’re announcing the return of Members Project, the online initiative that enables Cardmembers to submit, discuss and vote on projects to make a positive impact in the world that American Express will fund with $2.5 million. Last year, Members Project brought clean drinking water to children across Africa.
What happens this year can be up to your readers. There are great tools on www.MembersProject.com available now to help people prepare ideas and build a network to bring their ideas to the forefront. Please encourage them to start thinking now and get ready to submit their ideas starting July 22.
The announcement with more details is below. I’d love to discuss this further and I’m available to answer any questions!
Best,
Adam
212-373-6106
Just a few points I’d like to pick AMEX up on here:
1) “My Readers” can do whatever they damn well like with their time, and have far better things to do than post ideas that will ultimately lead to AMEX looking really good.
2) The $2.5m “Members Project” is just one project for the year — that’s it. $2.5m is less than 0.01% of the annual revenue of this global corporate giant. Not exactly a generous piece of philanthropy, is it?
3) American Express is probably the largest travel company on Earth, selling flights to millions of people every year, warming the Earth up just that bit more.
4) With anything between 50 and 100 million card holders, Amex is responsible for a considerable proportion of the global credit market; credit is one of the key drivers of the global economy — if people do not have credit then they are far less likely to buy goods. It is the acquisition of consumer goods and services that ensures that the planet will continue to be degraded.
Actually, this is far too polite. Here was my response to Adam (who I don’t know from Adam, and had spammed me…):
Adam
If I may say so, the statement “your readers have the next four weeks to think about their ideas to make a positive impact in the world” is utter bollocks.
My readers are actually doing things, rather than using their AMEX cards to buy stuff which funds the industrial economy, which destroys the planet.
I will have great pleasure featuring this on The Unsuitablog (www.unsuitablog.com)
Welcome to reality, Adam.
Regards
Keith Farnish
To which he responded:
Keith,
I’m sorry to hear to you feel that way.
The reality is, through last year’s Members Project, one Cardmember’s idea improved access to safe drinking water to more than 3.5 million people in Africa for at least two years and significantly reduced waterborne diseases by promoting household water treatment, safe storage and a healthy environment.
If you change your opinion, let me know.
Thanks.
Adam
To which I respond: if it wasn’t for the degradation of the global environment and the increasing drive for resource extraction, and the greed driven corruption (greed for the trappings of the industrial economy), all of which are hitting Africa incredibly hard, causing conflict, disease and famine; then those 3.5 million people — a lot more in fact — would not need your piddling bit of help.
In fact, why do we need Amex to fund clean water, when that $2.5m could come from the defense budgets of the world’s industrial nations: about the cost of a couple of ground-to-air missiles, if I’m not much mistaken?
No Amex, you’re not fooling anyone with your philanthropy promotions…