A recent article in the Guardian identified polar bears as latest 'poster child' for the fight against global warming. It got me wondering... why hadn't I seen the great white beasts staring out at me from a charity tube ad or insert yet?

Iconic images of polar bears (supposedly) stranded on icebergs, or lying on melting ice, have been the basis of a massive amount of PR activity in the last 6 months; surely this public awareness could add plenty of weight to fundraising appeals by the right charities - imagine the persuasive power of a big furry bear (claws and teeth sheathed) as the face of a national fundraising campaign running in line with the BBC's Planet Earth series!

Their declining numbers have even been a key factor in the US Government's recent admission of global warming - clearly qualifying them as the most powerful of spokes-animals.

No sooner than I had finished my thought and turned the page of my newspaper, then what should fall into my lap but an insert from a leading environmental charity - orangutan on side, polar bear on the other. The insert invited me choose whether to support the polar bear programme, the orangutan programme, or both. So, it's hairy tree-swinging veteran of the fundraising game vs the even hairier new pretender: I'd be interested to know who wins...

Richard Halliday