An interesting point but I think its futile and irrelevant to bemoan Ashton’s motivations. He is a celebrity and thus first and foremost: a brand. How different is what he is doing to Proctor and Gamble donating 5c to improving hygeine for girls in Africa for every packet purchased of a particular brand of sanitary towels? One can argue that all they are trying to do is gain publicity for their product over that of their competition. Which is true. I mean why don’t they simply donate instead of holding me and my cash and my tastes hostage: Buy this brand and help girls in Africa. But can also argue that they HAVE a social responsibility. At the heart of corporate social responsibility is making a difference and ofcourse making it known to your clients/customers/patrons/shareholders that this is what you are doing so they can be proud to be associated with you and your brand which inevitable gets more recognition and value. That is the nature of business. How is this different from what Ashton is doing? This man, like any other celebrity makes money simply by being who he is. I don’t mean to say this is wrong or right. But I mean to raise awareness to the inescapable fact that he is a business and a brand in and of himself. Just saying.

Really hope that there is a tsunami of opinions like yours to force him to change his tactics.
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