In the 1960s (I was there, and I do remember) there used to be a joke, which went, roughly: ‘Free Nelson Mandela – with every packet of cornflakes’. I was reminded of it by a recent article in the Guardian, which you can catch up with on their website.

In the article Richard Adams looks at aspects of our freebie-obsessed culture – acknowledging, in passing, that ‘even charities these days rarely ask for money without enclosing a free pen’.

For someone like me, constantly riding a knife-edge between ethical probity and commercial effectiveness, Adams touched several nerves, and researched some fascinating stuff. (Like the fact that Austrian churchgoers were the most likely to take newspapers without paying for them!)

I’ve always believed that nothing free is ever worth what you pay for it. But to what extent should we encourage the most acquisitive elements of human nature in order to promote philanthropic causes? There are some charities which adopt a totally ‘noli me tangere’ (do not touch) approach to commercial defilement. And others who would gladly accept a million pound donation from a successful arms dealer.

Would you?

Barry Evans