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Friday, November 28, 2008

A Lousy Cup of Coffee
How can something so clever have such a god-awful name?

Well, it's Black Friday. Specialty retailers will employ whatever marketing gimmicks they can to get us to buy their holiday junk with our holiday dollars,

But I don't think I've ever seen a gimmick as  tasteless as what the stone-hearts at the New York First Company, have come up with.

Their product is clever enough: a blue-and-white, leather change purse ingeniously designed to look like a crumpled, takeout coffee cup.

But guess what they call it?

The "Panhandler's Change Purse" - no kidding; really - an object "inspired by the sight of streetcorner beggars soliciting change with the city's ubiquitous, blue-and-white, Greek diner-style cups."

Oh, those inspiring beggars!

"A gift of the purse becomes a witty distraction from tough times," trills company spokesman Jeffrey Turback in the press release promoting the purse. "It's a way to scrimp and save in style."

The "witty distraction" is priced at an obscene $29 - a fortune to the pitiable souls whose lives have so derailed, they're reduced to begging for nickels on street corners.

But not to worry: The kindhearted folks at The New York First Company will donate a "portion" of the proceeds from each sale to HELP USA, a nonprofit advocacy group that helps the homeless. How's that for a cynical way to inoculate themselves from any accusation that it's thoughtless and awful to name their teeny pouch a "Panhandler's Change Purse"?

Don't let them get away with it. Contact Jeffrey Turback (press@newyorkfirst.com; 607-277-0152) and tell him that it ain't nice to poke fun of the poor.

And then let HELP USA president and CEO Laurence Belinsky know that his organization's good name is being appropriated in a pretty mean way. You can reach him at 212-400-7021.

Better yet, why not make a donation to Belinsky's organization? You can donate online or make your check payable to HELP USA and mail it to me here at The Daily News (400 N. Broad St., Box 7788, Phila., PA 19101).  I'll forward it to HELP USA myself, along with my own check.

Now that's a witty distraction!
Posted by Ronnie Polaneczky @ 5:00 AM  Permalink | 4 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:04 AM, 11/28/2008
    Slow news day, Ronnie? Seriously? It's cynical. It's clever. But it's hardly worth the column inches.
    — kallisti7
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:30 AM, 11/28/2008
    Let's drop the perpetual outrage, Ok?
    — jmc
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:59 AM, 11/28/2008
    How come Gambacorta comments that his name is hard to pronounce, which it isn't really, but you don't mention it at all about yours, with that dreaded Polish "cz" combination?! ;-)Oh, yeah, about your column...it would inspire more outrage if most of the "panhandlers" were down on their luck, but too many of them aren't...they are just looking for an effortless way to make a few bucks. We had one guy here in Roxborough begging for money at a local shopping center for months...funny it all stopped the day his woman came to pick him up in brand-new Cadillac....
    — StacyMevoli
  • Comment removed.


4 comments
About Ronnie Polaneczky

When my phone rings here at the Daily News, nine times out of ten the caller begins the conversation with, “Yeah, so what happened was…”.

Because this is Philly, the caller doesn’t say, “My name is Bob” – or Mary – “and I wonder if I could have a moment of your time?” Philadelphians are too direct for that. They just say, “Yeah, so what happened was…”, and then tumble into a tale they think oughta be shared with a wider audience. I love getting these calls (even the ones where it becomes clear, after 30 seconds, where the caller sowed the seeds of his own misery), because they give me chance to connect with fellow citizens in a way that no other job allows. Well, okay, no other job for which I’m remotely qualified.

That’s why my blog is titled “So What Happened Was…”. To me, it’s the quintessentially Philly way of saying, “Once upon a time.” When I hear it, I know a good story is coming. And I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

Ronnie Polaneczky has been an award-winning columnist for The Philadelphia Daily News since 1999, offering a front-steps perspective on every aspect of city life, from the sublime to the stupid. In her past life, she was the editor-in-chief of Atlantic City Magazine, associate editor at Philadelphia Magazine and a fulltime freelancer published in Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Reader's Digest, Men's Health, MarieClaire and others. She lives with her husband, daughter and various pets in the city's Fairmount section, where she dreams of one day singing The National Anthem at an Eagles game. In addition to her column and blog, you can enjoy Ronnie's musings in podcast form here.

Read more from Ronnie Polaneczky at Earth to Philly, the Daily News blog on anything and everything "Green

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