McHappy Day 2007

November 16, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
2 Comments

I’ll be putting on the apron and selling a few Big Macs tomorrow.

No, it’s not a way of supplementing my income. I won’t even be getting paid.

Tomorrow is McHappy Day, an annual event that raises funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities to help seriously ill children live happier, healthier lives.

Each year local media, sporting, political and community personalities are asked to get involved by serving behind the counter or collecting money from those in the restaurants. I’ve helped out at McHappy Day several times in the past but I haven’t done so in the last few years.

I’m certainly no celebrity but it’s nice to be asked to help out as part of my work at 98.5 Sonshine FM.

From 10 to 11 tomorrow morning I’ll be at McDonalds in Midland on the corner of Lloyd Street and Great Eastern Highway, so if you’re in the area please drop in and say hello. They have a great McCafe if you want to drop in for a coffee.

I’ll be teaming up with my Friday morning guest, Jill Bonanno, so it should be a very entertaining time to be at Maccas. I’ll post some photos here after the event.

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The $8,000,000,000 Give Away

November 16, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
4 Comments

I was chatting to someone a few days back and they were mentioning that a lot of gift cards and vouchers are never redeemed. That means that people are spending money to buy vouchers or gift cards for friends and family who never use them.

I’ve let free movie passes expire on occasions but I’m pretty good at using any other kind of gift voucher. Apparently there are an awful lot of people who never quite get around to it, which means that they never really get the benefit of their gift and the giver has handed some business owner a wad of cash for nothing.

In the light of my recent conversation it was interesting to read Seth Godin’s post this morning titled The $8 billion story/scam.

Last year, more than $8,000,000,000 was wasted on these cards. Not in the value spent, but in fees and breakage. When you give a card, if it doesn’t get used, someone ends up keeping your money, and it’s not the recipient. People spent more than eight billion dollars for nothing… buying a product that isn’t as good as cash.Along the way, we bought the story that giving someone a hundred dollar bill as a gift (“go buy what you want”) is callous, insensitive, a crass shortcut. Buying them a $100 Best Buy card, on the other hand, is thoughtful. Even if they spend $92 and have to waste the rest.

It’s certainly an obvious example of paying money for something without any real benefit but I wonder how many times we do something similar. I know that many health clubs and gyms are happy to sign people up for long term memberships knowing that a lot of people will turn up for a few weeks and then never return.

What about all the stuff that we buy and then never use? Just having a product in our possesion doesn’t mean that we benefit from it. In fact, if we buy something then don’t use it, not only have we wasted our money but we end up with a more cluttered home for no good reason.

Have you let vouchers or gift cards expire? What other ways have you paid for a product or service you’ve never used?

Just let me assure you, if you want to send me a gift voucher, I promise that I will use it, but if you prefer to send me some cash, I’m OK with that too.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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