Are companies not allowed to do good?

The key objective of yesterday’s post was to explain the background & motives of Meeting Half Way in a totally honest manner, but this is how it was met:

As was origninally suspected, this whole campaign is centered in making the services you offer through your company more marketable,thus increasing your profit margin. Your “social conern” is related only to how it will benefit you, not altruistic at all. The skepticism was indeed justified. Your efforts were nothing more than a thinly veiled marketing ploy, and an attempt to use the deaf community an cheaply obtained advertising.

Followed by:

The simple fact is, you have a product to sell. And the method you have chosen to advertise that product borders on unethical through misrepresentation to the deaf community of your intended goal.

I didn’t have to post the above comments, but I feel its important to address the incorrect accusations/assumptions just in case anyone else might also have them.

We are doing this project simply because we think that we have the ability to bring about change that can significantly benefit people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Our selflessness in that respect is proved by the facts that (a) we’ll be supporting the use of our competitor’s services and the use of competing technologies and (b) we’ll be donating any profits that come about through this project back to deaf charities, thereby providing them with a much needed ongoing revenue stream.

The only benefit which we might get is the pure good will of people and its on that basis that we’re willing to spend our company’s time, money & other resources. Companies (or doctors, dentists, teachers or emergency rescue teams) can’t ever claim to be altruistic (which we, too, are not), but does that mean that they can’t do good and that people shouldn’t support them.

We hope that our project will bring a lot of good into the lives of people who are deaf or hard of hearing and, whilst we can fully understand the skepticism which anyone might feel towards a business claiming to do good, I want people to know that Meeting Half Way is based on sincerity & honesty.

Through Meeting Half Way we have benevolent goals which we’re focussed on achieving and we’re treating whatever goodwill we might receive as nothing more than a byproduct that justifies the spending of company resources.

We are honest people with sincere intentions who need the support of everyone who can help (and everyone can help).