Mary Kay - Today Show Holiday Gift Drive

I am generally an easygoing and mild mannered individual. During the holidays, my pleasant overly optimistic nature only increases. With Christmas tunes in the air, beautiful decorations everywhere, and many constant reminders of the Gift we all received some 2000 years ago in the form of Baby Jesus, it is difficult to snap me out of my “goodwill to ALL men (and women)” mood.

Even with increased stress at work and the fuss of the holidays, I am much more forgiving of others offences, charitable in my “assuming or offering the benefit of the doubt”, and almost borderline obnoxious in my “nothing can bother me” attitude. As devastating as the news has been lately, I always come back to the reason for the season and, as Horatio Gates Spafford so keenly wrote, “It is well with my soul”.

Nonetheless, something has so thoroughly rattled my otherwise amicable soul today that I could not bear to ignore it. In the phenomenal holiday spirit of giving, Mary Kay has generously donated $2.6M in product to NBC’s Today Show’s 14^th Annual Holiday Toy and Gift Drive. “What is wrong with that?” you might ask. Nothing. What has nauseated me so thoroughly that I lost all appetite today was the incredibly insensitive, bitter response to this generosity on Pink Truth.

The release from Mary Kay, as quoted by Pink Truth is:

Tune in your television or set your TiVo! Saturday, Dec. 15, Mary Kay Inc. will appear in a short segment live on NBC’s The Today Show to present a donation to the Today Show Toy Drive.


This is the third year Mary Kay Inc., in conjunction with the Direct Selling Association, has made a donation to the Today Show Toy Drive, which was established to provide gifts to countless women and children nationwide. We're happy to report we have increased our contribution this year to $2.6 million in product from $2.4 million in product in 2006. Mary Kay’s contribution included thousands of Gigi ceramic coin banks and MK Signature® Lip Gloss. Mary Kay Inc. is one of the largest contributors through the Direct Selling Association, with 48 member companies donating approximately $7 million in products and services.


So please tune in to The Today Show, Saturday, Dec. 15 from 7 – 9 a.m. for the short segment outside in the plaza. And you can check the News Desk on the Mary Kay InTouch® Web site later this week for specific appearance time.


Warmest regards,


Randall Oxford
Vice President of Corporate Communications

I first read the lamentably pathetic complaint this morning before heading off to work. Although short and to the point, there is no mistaking the blatant criticism given and pure contempt felt toward this selfless act of charity.

“Mary Kay's donation is neither toys, nor is it much of contribution.”

“So they can trumpet this big donation, which probably cost them less than 1/4 of that retail value AND they probably couldn't do anything with the junky old lipglosses anyway.”

(although you can never be too sure, I believe these sentiments were from Tracy)

Then “The Scribbler” added:

“Ceramic coin banks and lip gloss? Talk about asking for an egg and receiving a scorpion - it's a TOY drive, for crying out loud!

In other news, after Mary Kay's insanely thoughtful, no-holds-barred donation, mall Santa beatings rose by 65%.”

Now while I feel a great deal of (what is the word…) pity for women that are so bitter that they can’t appreciate that a corporation like Mary Kay (say what you will about their business model) would try to help those less fortunate, I expected it to end there. In fact I kind of hoped I would see at least one, “C’mon guys, its charity” comment. There was not one all day. Every single person that commented today (thus far – all 26) berated Mary Kay in some way for their effort. With the exception of ONE person that said, “I have to say that I like the bank... I really do. But I am a dog person and have always been partial to the little foofy ones.” Not quite defending Mary Kay, but we will call it “neutral”.

Now as I said earlier, my tolerance for other peoples odd behavior is abnormally high around the holidays. When someone goes out of their way to do something for someone less fortunate than them, and the gift is rejected, I can often extend understanding toward the rejecter. If someone living on the street was given a water purifier designed to go on the faucet of a sink, for instance, and they rejected it (even violently), I would say, “well maybe that wasn’t the best gift for them”. But when anyone (plural) who HAS plenty, who is TYPING ON A COMPUTER, probably in a WARM HOUSE, and NO IDEA what it feels like to suffer (except maybe the “sting” of evil credit card debt) comes out ATTACKING the people that are trying to help those less fortunate, I have ZERO tolerance.

The Scribbler, NewJourney, pinkpeace, Lazy Gardens, okwithoutMK, Rachel, pinkfoglifted, ContourTHIS, Queen of Section 2, Pink Jihad, makincents, Christine, mkdv24, PinkIsNotMySignatureColor, SuzyQ, Nofoolinme, Raisinberry, Truth Not Tears, Timetogo and Tracy* (if it was indeed you that posted this)… HOW DARE YOU? Do you have no sense of decency? Do you have no shame? Would you prefer that these good people less fortunate than you get nothing? Do you really think that YOU should speak on their behalf? You don’t like Mary Kay lip-gloss? Good for you. But how dare you reject that gift on behalf of the recipients? You don’t like the cute little poodle bank? How “grown up of you”. But what gives you the sense of entitlement to suggest that the “thousands” that will be receiving this instead of nothing this year will reject it?

*note FadingPinkPom is not in this list as she did not actually say anything negative.

I have come to know and understand that Pink Truth does not enjoy research. Factual information eludes the readers AND writers at Pink Truth like Trix Cereal eludes “the Trix bunny”. As such, I have done a little of the research they SHOULD have done before making their unfounded accusations so they can realize just how shameful their behavior was today.

First of all, lets get a little clarity on the charity that Mary Kay has chosen to participate in.

Last holiday season, TODAY viewers, website visitors and corporate contributors teamed up to provide $26 million worth of toys, books, games, clothing, toiletries, electronics, musical instruments, CDs, videos, cosmetics and other suitable gifts to more than four million children via 203 organizations in all 50 states.

…

In 1994, the "TODAY Show Toy Drive" became the first independent gift drive in morning show history. The unique program is designed to provide gifts for impoverished children and teenagers up to age 18 nationwide. This year's effort has already begun, with items being shipped early to communities who have dire need to house and clothe millions of children. It's now time to reach out to every viewer. Please help us during these trying times to give a gift to every child on our list. For many of them, we are the ONLY source of gifts for the holidays.

MSNBC – http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21690771/ (emphasis mine)

This is not a “TOY” drive only. It is a GIFT drive. The target demographic for these gifts ranges all the way up to 18. They are asking for (among other things) toiletries, cosmetics, and other suitable gifts. Lip-gloss is (depending on where you are from) a toiletry or a cosmetic. The “gigi ceramic coin bank” is arguably a very desirable item. My wife “had to have one” when she saw it at seminar. It may not be my “style” exactly, but I know some people (even one or two on Pink Truth) that absolutely love it!

Let’s look at some of the other things being said about this gift drive.

“Bill Kennedy Jr. said he called the "Today Show" right away when he first heard about the gift drive. He said organizers were happy that he called because they thought Udder Cream would be a good gift for adolescent girls, who don't usually receive a lot of donated items.

Redex this year donated 40,000 units of Udder Cream, including four-ounce tubes and six-ounce bottles.”

Vindy.com – http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/321139517033456.php

“As part of its One by One Campaign for Children, Quixtar Inc. is donating more than $522,000 in product to NBC's Today Show Toy Drive via a direct selling industry effort to provide holiday gifts for thousands of children nationwide. Quixtar's gift of NAO never accept ordinary™ cosmetics and accessories is aimed at teen girls, one of the groups often forgotten during holiday giving drives. Quixtar's donation is being shipped to non-profit organizations across the country for delivery to disadvantaged children and families, providing in many cases the only gifts some children and teens may receive this holiday season.”

Media Newswire – http://media-newswire.com/release_1058319.html

If any of you over there had taken a little time to look into this, I suspect you would have discovered the same thing I just revealed here. Teen girls as a group are often forgotten during holiday giving drives. Based on that information, I would say that Mary Kay’s gift is more than just appropriate. It seems that it is perhaps amongst the more important gifts, reaching a segment that is often neglected.

It is with a very sad heart that I conclude this. I feel sad for the victims of the many circumstances that have left people in unfortunate scenarios. I feel sad for the many people and corporations that have gone out of their way to give where they were not required to only to be criticized by bitter, indifferent elitists. But most of all, I am sad for the women who are so deceived that they think they are helping people with this brutal, thoughtless attack on the goodwill of a company trying to reach out at this most wonderful time of celebration and giving. I earnestly pray for all of you. It is with great faith in the Power of God and great hope in His care for ALL people that I intercede on your behalf that He would shine His merciful light into the darkness of the pain and misery that has grasped your souls and draw you back into His Kingdom of faith, hope and love. I apologize to any of my readers that are not believers or are offended by the thought of praying, but my heart is so heavy for these women and my belief in the power of God so strong that I can’t help but express my faith in this way. It will not be the norm for this site, I promise.

Pink Truth, I leave you with this. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Your uncanny inability to divide fact from fiction has led you down a dangerous road. Your post today ridiculing a company that is helping others is absolutely and unequivocally unacceptable. If you have any decency, you will take that post down and replace it with an apology of sorts. In your attempt to defame the company you so love to hate, you have inflicted irrevocable damage on the very spirit this holiday season has come to embody. While I will continue to pray for each and every one of you, I will with every ounce of my energy declare the deplorable nature of your actions. This is truly pathetic. In the strongest sense of the words, I am appalled, disgusted, revolted and dismayed. I have nothing left to say.

If you are a reader on Pink Truth and would like to speak out against this atrocity, but fear being banned, I offer you full anonymity. I would not want to lump you in with this group. Please, for the sake of my devastated holiday spirit, let me know that not all of you are this far gone.