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Abstract product design: one bar of Hope, please

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Being the product-loving and recession-conscious consumers that we are, we all want to get as much for our cash as we can. And in some ways, that even applies to giving to charity. People will admirably train themselves to death to run the London Marathon in aid of Cancer Research yes, partly because it's a great cause, but the personal achievement side is, I would venture to suggest, just as important. One to tick off on the list of 'trendy things to do before I'm 50'.

And yes, there is a certain amount of satisfaction to be gained out of clearing out your wardrobes every couple of years and taking bags full of clothes along to your local charity shop. Slightly further down the chain in terms of satisfaction when it comes to charity giving is the direct debit option. I've got a number of these myself  just in case I don't have any change when the money collection box rattles outside Sainsbury's or in case I value my knees too much to run 26-odd miles, however good the cause.

But just in case you're living in north London (specifically Crouch End or Belsize Park) and you're not part of the direct debit crowd (or the marathon crowd or the wardrobe clear-out crowd) supermarket chain Budgens has developed a system of letting local residents donate to charity without actually needing to think too much about it. The concept is rather interesting, I have to say.

You buy Hope.

Huh? You buy an abstract noun? Yes, that's right. But in a rather unusual way. You see, the word Hope is carved neatly onto a block of wood and placed carefully on the shelves in Budgens next to the Malteasers. The idea is that as you're browsing the lines of products, the block of wood and the big carved word 'Hope' will catch your eye. When you pick it up, you'll see that on the back the instructions state that you should take it to the checkout with the rest of your shopping, whereby when it is scanned, £1 will be donated to the Alzheimer's Society.

But here's the 'catch', if you can call it that: you don't get to keep the wooden block of Hope. Instead, it is returned to the shelves for another charitable punter to pick up and take to the till. So you can't take it home and use it as a paperweight; you can't use it as a garden accessory; and you can't Blu-tack it to your daughter's door if you happen to have called her Hope. No, back on the shelves it goes, with your wallet (or credit card) one shiny pound lighter.

To anticipate your first question, why would you bother? Well, given how much we all love to give to charity if Comic Relief, Sport Relief and Children In Need are anything to go by, we tend to give more when we're presented with a direct opportunity to do so. That said, charitable giving is down one fifth since the announcement that we were officially in a recession, but still, we all do our bit. But do you subscribe to the Big Issue? I doubt it. But you've probably bought your fair share of copies when offered one outside the tube station, right? It's there, you have a couple of quid on you, so you 'do your bit'.

What the wooden block of Hope is trying to achieve is pretty much the same thing, albeit in a more abstract way. It's presenting North Londoners with an opportunity to give to a very worthy cause while they're buying their Belvita and Pinot Grigio, without having to speak to anyone (thank goodness), without costing them a massive amount, and by allowing them to feel as if their conscience is being painlessly eased. Quite a clever piece of product design and placement, in my opinion.

And let's face it, if you were to keep it, that block of Hope would probably end up finding its way back to a charity shop at some point in the future anyway, so they're saving people from cluttering up their cupboards unnecessarily.

At the moment, Budgens have the monopoly on Hope at least in wooden block form. I'll be interested to see if any other companies follow suit. 'Just popping to Morrisons, dear! We need some Cillit Bang and a slice of Macmillan Nurses Compassion!'

by Ashley Morrison

Ashley is a blogger, copywriter and editor.

Follow me on Twitter @Ashley_Morrison

[email protected]
www.creativepool.co.uk/ashleymorrison

 

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