One of the things that makes me laugh is when financial institutions try and present themselves as caring about the World.
OK, so some genuinely do – but the big investment banks are highly questionable – and yet, despite countless proof their quest for profit trumps everything, they continue to spout this company line.
Well recently I saw one that reached new depths of tragic.
UBS.
Putting aside ‘Does Cancer Respect Wealth’ is a pretty cold and heartless way to ever communicate, this is not some statement declaring UBS is donating billions to find a cure – oh no – it’s an ad designed to do 2 things:
1. Stop anyone who is disgustingly wealthy feel guilty for being disgustingly wealthy.
2. Invite investment in companies trying to find a cure for cancer. Or said another way, it’s offering the chance to get seriously wealthy if one of the companies finds a cure.
They just can’t help themselves can they?
Look, I know money makes the World go round.
I know money can help solve things – as they so blatantly point out in their tweet, to make them sound like they’re the Red Cross.
But – and it’s a big but – the key is how you earn the cash and what you do with it and UBS don’t have a great track record in that. Sure, there are worse institutions out there, but I would rather they own what they’re trying to do rather than just badly spin it in an attempt to look like they care about humanity when the reality is they only care about humanity if they’re super rich and customers of theirs.
23 Comments so far
Leave a comment
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Why does this surprise you? They trade in evil for profit.
Comment by Bazza November 8, 2018 @ 6:28 amI agree with you, but it’s the way they chip their standards lower and lower and hope people don’t realise until it is too late that offends me most.
Comment by Pete November 8, 2018 @ 7:03 amStealth-serving.
Comment by Bazza November 8, 2018 @ 7:18 amI think that is the reason why I find this so distasteful. Their belief no one will notice when it is jarring in its inappropriateness.
Comment by George November 8, 2018 @ 7:30 amNot as stealth as they like to think though Bazza.
Comment by Rob November 8, 2018 @ 8:49 amI am sure if you asked UBS they would disagree with your perspective. Then financial institutions disagree they ever do anything wrong, even when found to be breaking the law. As Baz stated, we should not be surprised by this sort of behaviour anymore and yet I find this particularly ugly even though I am unsure as to why.
Comment by George November 8, 2018 @ 6:44 amIt is a pretty impressive list of wrong doing.
https://tinyurl.com/y8jw9s2p
Comment by Pete November 8, 2018 @ 7:01 amBlimey, Pete. I knew they were nasty, but not that nasty.
Comment by Marcus November 8, 2018 @ 7:16 amAlmost as impressive as Robert’s police record.
Comment by George November 8, 2018 @ 7:29 amThanks a lot George.
Comment by Rob November 8, 2018 @ 8:48 amGeorge FTW.
Comment by DH November 8, 2018 @ 5:26 pmi like you better when youre a prick auntie g.
Comment by andy@cynic November 8, 2018 @ 9:04 pmNailed it Rob.
“in an attempt to look like they care about humanity when the reality is they only care about humanity if they’re super rich and customers of theirs.”
Comment by Pete November 8, 2018 @ 7:02 amAdvertising to the 1%. My first reaction was that this couldn’t possibly have been written by a human but on second thoughts “does cancer respect wealth” gives us an interesting insight into the minds of the people UBS are advertising at. It’s oozing with fear and loathing of someone who has realised that, regardless of their wealth, they’re going to end up in a hole in the ground just like the rest of us.
“It’s a ‘Mr. Death’ or something. He’s come about the reaping? I don’t think we need any at the moment.”
Comment by Marcus November 8, 2018 @ 7:15 amBankers occupy the space between human and robot.
Evil human and emotionless robot.
Comment by Bazza November 8, 2018 @ 7:20 amMust be crowded with big tech overlapping same spot.. (shout out google china search engine for keyword indexing 😉 )
Kidding aside, All the comments made so far, remove ubs and add tech or pharma company (or Bono drom U2) and rob’s observation holds up..
Comment by Niko November 8, 2018 @ 7:45 amYou’re right Niko … everyone is trying to now profit from death. I appreciate this could help create breakthrough for certain medical conditions, but there’s no empathy in any of this, just the quest for profit.
Comment by Rob November 8, 2018 @ 8:48 amIt’s not a surprise when you see what happened when schools started being operated for profit.
Comment by DH November 8, 2018 @ 5:27 pmImpact investing is a term straight from the Trump playbook. Designed to look compassionate to the majority while being a signal to the wealthy this is really designed for their greed.
Comment by Lee Hill November 8, 2018 @ 8:11 amThat’s a great point. Impact investing sounds like you are doing something honorable and yet the impact it’s really talking about is the profit you’ll make from the people dying.
Comment by Rob November 8, 2018 @ 8:47 amif the ubs ceo got cancer then wed see some fucking change.
Comment by andy@cynic November 8, 2018 @ 8:55 pmI believe they are the cancer.
Comment by George November 8, 2018 @ 10:17 pmIt’s always the same. Diseases don’t matter until wealthy white people are at risk.
Comment by Rob (Other one) November 12, 2018 @ 12:08 amThat said, I have more trust in UBS to care than I would HSBC.