Comments on: Monday PSA: Superman talks about “Pennies for UNICEF”

By: Ross

Ross — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:12:00 +0000

To Conor: Yeah, UNICEF officially stopped giving boxes to children for trick-or-treating nation-wide in 2006. I remember seeing them at least up until the mid or late nineties in Saskatchewan.

By: JD Long

JD Long — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:28:33 +0000

When I first scanned the title of this post, I thought it said “PENISES for UNICEF.” Talk about getting screwed for the UN!

By: Bay

Bay — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:20:59 +0000

Contrary to Mike, I grew up in the SF bay area and had the little boxes every year, so it probably just didn’t catch on in LA. I was trick-or-treating as late as… god, let’s see. I started high school in 02 so I think the last time I saw one was halloween of ‘01.

By: mike.

mike. — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:45:41 +0000

I have never seen a UNICEF box in my life – was never given one when I was a kid, and never seen anyone else carry one back then or since. I think the first time I’d ever even heard of UNICEF was a mention in _Superfudge_, which always made me think that it must have been an East Coast thing (I grew up in LA).

By: ScienceGiant

ScienceGiant — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:56:36 +0000

Thanks, Scott. My high school does Trick or Treat for UNICEF. This PSA will be a perfect one-page flyer.

By: Conor E

Conor E — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:00:04 +0000

“It’s been discontinued in Canada since 2006.”

I distinctly recall those being phased out in the late 80s. My older brother had one a few times, but they had stopped by the time I was old enough. Perhaps it varied by region.

By: Jeffery Sellers

Jeffery Sellers — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:21:27 +0000

My daughters found the orange boxes at a Hallmark store and are planning on trick-or-treating for UNICEF. You can collect the money and send them a check or deposit the change in a Coinstar machine

By: somewho

somewho — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 07:10:04 +0000

UNICEF still collects foreign exchange on a few airlines’ international flights. However, I’ve recently learned first hand how foreign aid disbursing personnel travel and where they stay. No longer will I donate to such large international charities. MSF, in contrast, has audit trails leading to 90%+ spending on real aid, instead of money spent on staff salaries and lodging.

By: Sean Duggan

Sean Duggan — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:43:12 +0000

And, as usual, we get the question of why Superman doesn’t help out rather than just flying kids around. The excuses just never seem to suffice…

By: Ross

Ross — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:28:51 +0000

I remember trick-or-treating every year with a unicef box. It’s been discontinued in Canada since 2006.

I know this isn’t the most questionable thing Superman has ever done, but instead flying boys around the world to educate them about UNICEF, wouldn’t his time be better spent directly helping UNICEF?