For these misguided celebs, charity should remain at home





Not every charitable move by celebrities is met with acclaim ­ here are instances of `do good' efforts which drew flak for being a bit too far from doing any real good

If they don’t have bread, let them eat cake,” are said to be the famous (almost) last words of the Queen of France, Marie-Antoinette some months before her subjects beheaded her. And Lindsay Lohan’s latest fiasco of donating a luxury brand blanket to charity proves that even today, no matter how well intentioned, celebrities’ misguided attempts to espouse a cause aren’t above ending up at the Twitter chopping block. LiLo’s not the only one who’s faced flak, however, read on to find out who else did.

GWYNETH'S ATTEMPT AT A NORMAL LIFE

Last April, Gwyneth Paltrow took on the food stamp challenge to raise awareness about families that spent under $30 (over ‘2,000) on food each month. When Paltrow shared an image of her food for the challenge, one site noted, “The spread looks more like it was concocted to be featured on a glossy Instagram page than to provide nutrition. Like everything Paltrow does, it seems to be imbued with evidence of her extravagant wealth.” Social media accounts responded with, “LOL at @GwynethPaltrow thinking (such) families have cars to drive to (high-end food stores),” and, “Being poor and hungry is not an experiment. And we need Gwyneth doing this to care?” It didn’t help that she quit the challenge in four days and ate a whole bag of liquorice after.

HARRISON WAXES FOR FORESTS

Not everything Harrison Ford does is met with critical acclaim. In fact, the actor waxing his chest in 2008 in the name of deforestation had quite the opposite effect. “If you have an interest in Harrison Ford, chest waxing, conservation or totally absurd celebrity stunts that you can't really make fun of because they're for charity , you probably saw (this) video,“ one site wrote, while another added the stunt was so bizarre, viewers would “be unlikely to pay attention to a single word coming out of his mouth.“

LINDSAY'S DESIGNER BRAND CHARITY

“Doesn't matter if it's (a designer brand), it's giv ing to those that need peace of mind in life,“ Lindsay Lohan wrote when she donated a blanket to charity in November. So, what's wrong with that? “Why not buy 1,000 reasonably priced blankets. Would help more,“ “You can get diamonds, stay in five-star hotels and all you can do is send them blankets?“ and, “Please donate me a (designer brand) blan ket, I'm in need,“ was the internet's reply.

ONE DIRECTION TRIES TO MOVE

Last September, One Direction asked fans to send them videos in which they described the kind of world they wanted to live in. The plan was to send the montage to world leaders. It wasn’t long after that a slew of criticism followed with, “I want to live in a world where boy bands don’t force feed political messages,” “Quit sending your ‘message’ to ‘world leaders’ and spend some of your millions to make a difference,” and, “Corporate boy band, let me tell you a secret. The world powers don’t care what average people – of which you are not – want.” As one website summed it up, “They called the internet to action...
and the internet extended its finger in one direction.”

JENNIFER'S WASTEFUL BID TO SAVE WATER

“I take a three-minute shower. I even brush my teeth while I shower. I found out every two minutes in the shower uses as much water as a person in Africa uses for a whole day ,“ Jennifer Aniston revealed in 2009. Apart from the question of how anyone could bathe properly in three minutes while brushing their teeth, her statement raised other worries.“Two minutes of brushing in the shower uses about five gallons of water, whereas two minutes of modest faucet usage only uses about two gallons,“ one site wrote.