Let's File This Under: Campaigns I Wish I Could See the PowerPoint of...

So, NBC, Walgreens and a bunch of (Walgreensesque) brands are hyping the notion that ending poverty can be done if enough people buy $1 red noses at Walgreens, take pictures of themselves and others wearing said red noses, and then watch a comedy show on NBC. Gosh! All good fun and all in the name of helping end poverty in the US and around the world. Please, please: Help us understand the logic, beyond the blatant self-promotion for NBC, Walgreens and its candy brands, free traffic-building loopyness for Walgreens and the gosh-aren't-I-a-cool-celebrity, watch me! watch me! factor.

What's funny exactly about poverty? What got them to say, I know! I know! It's a tough subject nobody really wants to address. Let's tart it up a bit. Let's sell red noses! It's be like that ice cube thing last year, but less painful. I understand the notion started in the UK, but still. Really, people? Show me the PowerPoint. Or, just show me the Point. 

We have only to watch the images out of Baltimore's Sandtown to understand the issue isn't that "poverty needs is a good laugh," or a media-based repositioning, but rather that we need to roll up our sleeves and actually do something specific, something that isn't exactly fun or funny, something, dare I say it, that costs more than a buck and requires more of us than a feel-good-about-myself Instagram moment. The outsourcing of our moral responsibilities may play to our consumer and self-aggrandizing culture, but at what cost to our genuine cultural connectednes. 

That's what I think. What say you?