As the New York Times reports, this holiday season many merchants are using real charity as advertising. Nike, The Gap, Disney, and others are mixing philanthropy with product, doing things like selling bracelets whose profits go to cancer research, or plush toys whose profits go towards children's medical research. One New York housewares store is even selling water buffalo in Cambodia -- you pay here to donate one to a village there. The NYT quotes the president of a marketing consulting firm, who says "Such retail-hosted charitable events and promotions have at least tripled since 2000...and have clearly accelerated in the past year."


