Sunday, January 18, 2009

What the Fuck is the Foundation for a Better Life?

If you are like me, you've seen these ads, on late night TV, sponsored by the Foundation for a Better Life.

Maybe it is the guy who holds open a door for a woman, even though he has packages in his arms, and ends up holding the door open for a stream of elderly never-do-wells.  Or maybe you've seen the one in which two kids are beating on each other, and some random, straggly looking motherfucker breaks up the fight.  Or the one where a girl befriends the new girl at the cafeteria.

If you haven't seen them, here's a sample of the their weird, alternative Earth goody-goodiness.

Milk Bottles!  Because those still exist.

It is funny--you visit their website, and they basically tell you that they are a 501(c)3 nonprofit and that they don't want your money.  That's damn odd, I can tell you.  I've spent a good 20% of my life working for 501(c)3 nonprofits, and I've worked on behalf of dozens and dozens of nonprofits.  I've never, ever encountered one that didn't want money from you.  

So why doesn't the Foundation for a Better Life?  Because they are owned by, run by, and used by the Anschutz Group, which is a coal and energy consortium run by Philip Anschutz.    He is technically a conservative Christian, but what I think you are seeing in those ads is a way of dispersing funds that will be marked as tax-deductions.  

How else to explain this shitburger, described by itself as a commercial for Optimism?


2 comments:

Andrew Wice said...

Holy Crap! I could surely use some optimism at a time like this. How can I buy some with my credit card?

steve said...

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