The rugby star and LGBTQ ally takes off his shirt in a new campaign for Persil Non-Bio & Comfort Pure. He shared a sneak peek of his photos with cute little babies that got the pleasure of curling up in this hunky man’s arms. Needless to say, we are now jealous of some 1-year-old.
[Photos: Facebook]
Homophile
Lovely man, inside and out.
viveutvivas
So they are selling something with sex and babies. Not sure I am quite comfortable with that combination.
Homophile
Laundry detergent.
Caleb in SC
@viveutvivas: Waaaay off the point. Sorry. If that is what you see, work it out with your therapist.
LaTeesha
@Caleb in SC: Truth.
tdx3fan
@Caleb in SC: Could be what he sees because that is exactly what they are attempting to do… Hot shirtless guys should only be posing for photos with babies if they fathered them.
balehead
Lots of us said he was a media ho looking for money…..
LaTeesha
@tdx3fan: Why? That makes no sense.
B Damion
Awww so so cute. I wish he was ma babe daaadddyyy….
LaTeesha
@balehead: It’s called – a job. Trying getting one, Loser.
Homophile
@tdx3fan:
Haha! You really think that? You really think some ad guys are sitting around with the laundry detergent bottle thinking, “hmmm, you know what would really sell the shit out of this stuff? Sexy babies!”
More likely, woman still make the buying decisions in most households, especially laundry detergent. This ad is geared towards them.
Homophile
@balehead:
Totally! Every good thing this guy has done for our community is bullshit because he has bills to pay.
greybat
It’s an image that sells very well to women! Women like handsome men who can nurture their offspring.
For me… it gives me sentimental twinge about the father I might have been.
Stefan
Does no one realize this guy is fat? Put down the baby and do some sit ups.
GerryB
@Homophile: @balehead:
I have been interested in the The Ben Cohen Standup Foundation for some time. I wondered why a straight rugby player would espouse a gay cause like this. Was it real? I did some research and here it is:
This information has been obtained from Guidestar which lists all Foundations and the financial information submitted by the Foundation to the IRS. Information has also been obtained from the Ben Cohen Foundation website.
The Ben Cohen Standup Foundation began in April 2011. It is a registered 501(c)3 Non-profit, Private Grantmaking Foundation . The Foundation was registered in the UK in May 2012. The Chairman is Mr Ben Cohen and the CEO is Mr Patrick Davis Chairman of Brand Capital which Linkedin states “specializes in the creation and management of brand capital. We serve clients worldwide helping them to identify, allocate and deploy brand capital for maximum value and return on investment”. The Foundation works to combat homophobia and bullying especially in sport. It is described on its website as a “Social commercial brand”. In effect this means that there is the registered NonProfit entity and a For Profit commercial business which their website states “conducts business under the StandUp commercial brand which supports the Foundation’s work”. This commercial side of the business is called Ben Cohen USA Inc. This licenses the commercial entity called “Standup social commerce brand”.
The Non-Profit Foundation has submitted one Form 990 to the IRS for April to Dec 2011 as it is required to do. It is stated in that Form that between April and Dec 2011 the total income of the Foundation was $135,697. Of that income, 11.6% ($14,710) was given in grants. 88% ($111,958) was spent on administration, 52% ($66,152) was spent on the salary of “The Executive Director Grants” named as Abigail Louise Cohen . She is the wife of Ben Cohen and lives in the UK. Five grants were dispersed during that 8 month period totaling $14,710
The Form 990 for the year 2012 has not yet been posted. However the Foundation website states that between April 2011 and Dec 2012 the combined Non-Profit and For Profit arms of the Organisation raised a total of approx $800,000. The website states that $200,000 of this was used for charitable purposes consisting of $58,000 in antibullying grants and $141,000 on antibullying and awareness campaigns. That means that approx 25% was spent on the Foundations purpose and $600,000 has not yet been accounted for – presumably it was used for salaries, administration etc.
So the questions for me are – is the charitable side of the combined enterprise there to provide an image that results in significantly greater income for the business? Does combating homophobic bullying in sport justify the disproportionately greater profit made by the business? Or would it be far more cost effective to just make direct donations to organisations who work for the same purposes and who take far less in administration and do not have a commercial arm to fund?
GerryB
…correction. I do not wish to imply that the NonProfit part of the Foundation provides any direct funding to the Profit making business.