Cullen and Katie: Blame the Mailman Part 7

[mblant99]

So proud of them =)




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Does that mean they won the trip? It looked like it, but I couldn't decide.


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[HashtagBlessed]

Wait, they win a vacation to Costa Rica for raising money for the American Cancer Society? That's not very altruistic. It actually makes me look at their fundraising efforts in a completely different light. I thought they were doing it just to use their platform for a good cause. If there wasn't a "prize" would they have done the fundraiser at all? Or chosen a different charity? Accepting a trip to Costa Rica for raising $10k would make me highly uncomfortable, personally. I hope the flight and hotel stay were donated, and the American Cancer Society didn't spend funds on that.

[nutbagmcgee]

Wait, they win a vacation to Costa Rica for raising money for the American Cancer Society? That's not very altruistic. It actually makes me look at their fundraising efforts in a completely different light. I thought they were doing it just to use their platform for a good cause. If there wasn't a "prize" would they have done the fundraiser at all? Or chosen a different charity? Accepting a trip to Costa Rica for raising $10k would make me highly uncomfortable, personally. I hope the flight and hotel stay were donated, and the American Cancer Society didn't spend funds on that.

I thought that at first but then remembered that they matched all donations so they put a lot out for it too. Not completely self serving.

[Playsinrain]

Wait, they win a vacation to Costa Rica for raising money for the American Cancer Society? That's not very altruistic. It actually makes me look at their fundraising efforts in a completely different light. I thought they were doing it just to use their platform for a good cause. If there wasn't a "prize" would they have done the fundraiser at all? Or chosen a different charity? Accepting a trip to Costa Rica for raising $10k would make me highly uncomfortable, personally. I hope the flight and hotel stay were donated, and the American Cancer Society didn't spend funds on that.

I'm assuming the entire trip was donated by a travel company, something like that is pretty common. Also, i'm pretty sure that the trip was actually added to the "prize" after they started the fundraiser, it wasn't like they did this to win a trip.. the trip wasn't a factor. I hope they go and enjoy themselves. They put a lot of time and money into that fundraiser and they won! They deserve it!

[Playsinrain]

Also i see a lot of people on the IG pic saying they hope they give the trip to someone else... Most times those trips are nontransferable.

[FakingIt_MakingIt]

The trip kind of makes me side eye them...yes, they put a lot of time and money into the fundraiser as well BUT did they do it because they wanted to win a trip? Is that why the picked this fundraiser?
I don't know. I don't hate them for it, they likely donated just as much if not more then they would spend had they paid for the trip but it seems like another instance where they were up front and open about stuff (promoting that weight loss program they actually made money on).

[Playsinrain]

I'm going back and watching old vlogs and seeing if they seem to know about the trip from the start or not.. I know they brought it up at least once.

[Playsinrain]

Video, Unbelievable Breast Cancer Donations! Cullen reads an email that was sent to him just a couple days before that announcing that the trip would be part of the prize for the winning donations. This was on Oct 17th. , they announced the fundraiser on Oct. 4th. Cullen says that it was announced half way through the campaign to create a "surge" of donations.. Fair to say they didn't have a clue about the trip when they started the fundraiser. They donated at the LEAST $3499.03 just with matching the tee shirt sales.. Plus they donated right at $10,000? I applaud them for doing this, thats a ton of money for ACS!! good for them!!

[HashtagBlessed]

There's nothing about prizes or a trip on the donation page. I suppose there's no real way to know when participants were aware, just because they don't mention it until such and such date doesn't mean very much. I'm not trying to say it was a grand conspiracy, it just makes me side-eye them for encouraging people to donate to their fundraising page knowing that there's a large prize for them if they raise the most money. Does the $10k include their own match? It's certainly very charitable of them to match donations. It's odd to me that their viewers are leaving comments like "you deserve this." It takes the focus off the charity and the programs they're fundraising for and makes it all about them. Maybe that wasn't their intention at all, but these family vloggers have such rabid fans that are obsessed and blindly defend everything they do or say.

**Oops, I watched the video, and they say their donation is what they raised from selling shirts, and they would match what was raised on the shirts. So they aren't matching total donations, just shirt profits.

[lmmomSD]

Video, Unbelievable Breast Cancer Donations! Cullen reads an email that was sent to him just a couple days before that announcing that the trip would be part of the prize for the winning donations. This was on Oct 17th. , they announced the fundraiser on Oct. 4th. Cullen says that it was announced half way through the campaign to create a "surge" of donations.. Fair to say they didn't have a clue about the trip when they started the fundraiser. They donated at the LEAST $3499.03 just with matching the tee shirt sales.. Plus they donated right at $10,000? I applaud them for doing this, thats a ton of money for ACS!! good for them!!

Thanks. That does make it much better.

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[Playsinrain]

There's nothing about prizes or a trip on the donation page. I suppose there's no real way to know when participants were aware, just because they don't mention it until such and such date doesn't mean very much. I'm not trying to say it was a grand conspiracy, it just makes me side-eye them for encouraging people to donate to their fundraising page knowing that there's a large prize for them if they raise the most money. Does the $10k include their own match? It's certainly very charitable of them to match donations. It's odd to me that their viewers are leaving comments like "you deserve this." It takes the focus off the charity and the programs they're fundraising for and makes it all about them. Maybe that wasn't their intention at all, but these family vloggers have such rabid fans that are obsessed and blindly defend everything they do or say.

The 10K was the final donation so yes, that does include what they matched.

[HashtagBlessed]

I just watched the video referenced above. Cullen announces that they made a profit of $3,499 from t-shirt sales that they're going to match. And Katie just looks annoyed and disappointed about the high sales and the fact that they have to donate. "Do you know how many things we could buy with $7,000?" Good grief. This is a woman who has had an incredibly privileged life and she's whining about having to donate the money. She also tells people they bought too many shirts. Wasn't that the point to raise money for the American Cancer Society? They say that they put more shirts online because more people wanted to purchase the real mean wear pink shirts, but they aren't donating or matching the profits from those shirt sales anymore. Cullen seemed like he was justifying it to Katie by saying it would get them a trip to Costa Rica. He seemed excited and happy to donate, she comes across as ungrateful and reluctant.

[Ducklings4]

Wait, they win a vacation to Costa Rica for raising money for the American Cancer Society? That's not very altruistic. It actually makes me look at their fundraising efforts in a completely different light. I thought they were doing it just to use their platform for a good cause. If there wasn't a "prize" would they have done the fundraiser at all? Or chosen a different charity? Accepting a trip to Costa Rica for raising $10k would make me highly uncomfortable, personally. I hope the flight and hotel stay were donated, and the American Cancer Society didn't spend funds on that.

I thought that at first but then remembered that they matched all donations so they put a lot out for it too. Not completely self serving.

They put half the money in since they matched what they raised

That being said American Cancer Society uses .20 per $1.00 donated for actual cancer the rest goes to salaries, rent, and obviously trips. I usually find grass root charities to donate to or research which ones spend the most on the actual cause.


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[hey girl hey007]

I just watched the video referenced above. Cullen announces that they made a profit of $3,499 from t-shirt sales that they're going to match. And Katie just looks annoyed and disappointed about the high sales and the fact that they have to donate. "Do you know how many things we could buy with $7,000?" Good grief. This is a woman who has had an incredibly privileged life and she's whining about having to donate the money. She also tells people they bought too many shirts. Wasn't that the point to raise money for the American Cancer Society? They say that they put more shirts online because more people wanted to purchase the real mean wear pink shirts, but they aren't donating or matching the profits from those shirt sales anymore. Cullen seemed like he was justifying it to Katie by saying it would get them a trip to Costa Rica. He seemed excited and happy to donate, she comes across as ungrateful and reluctant.

Maybe it's because I really like them that I didn't take it that way. I thought they made it clear they would only match up to so many shirts, then people wanted more so they would release more but keep that money for themselves. Katie seemed like she was joking when she said people bought too many shirts, I think she was just shocked at how much they had to donate. I'm the same way though, any time my husband says something I always get hesitant because it's not something I personally would offer up to do.

[HashtagBlessed]

They donated $3,449 from the t-shirt profits and matched that with another $3,449 out of pocket, so of the $10k donated about $7k came from t-shirt sales and from them.

[lmmomSD]

WHY is he driving down the freeway vlogging and hardly looking at the road? He can't wait until he gets there?
He wasn't even really holding the steering wheel! No. "Cullen Car Talks" should not be a "thing". At least Katie does it while she's parked.
And the other losers are gone from the vlogs, for those who asked when it was safe again?
Poor Gaines is so miserable.

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[lmmomSD]

Double post, sorry. But it was so sweet with Gaines cheering for Brooks rolling over. When she leaned over and said "good job!" I just died.

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[Lovethesnark]

They get a huge tax deduction and a free vacation? If the lumps were doing this there would be all types of name calling going on. Teespring gives you the option to donate the profits directly to the charity of your choice. The way they arranged things allows them to take a deduction for the entire $7000. They shouldn't have accepted the trip. They knew their would be a prize. They may not have known exactly what the prize would be, but I have no doubt they knew it would be a big one.

[liz749]

Wait, they win a vacation to Costa Rica for raising money for the American Cancer Society? That's not very altruistic. It actually makes me look at their fundraising efforts in a completely different light. I thought they were doing it just to use their platform for a good cause. If there wasn't a "prize" would they have done the fundraiser at all? Or chosen a different charity? Accepting a trip to Costa Rica for raising $10k would make me highly uncomfortable, personally. I hope the flight and hotel stay were donated, and the American Cancer Society didn't spend funds on that.

I thought that at first but then remembered that they matched all donations so they put a lot out for it too. Not completely self serving.

They put half the money in since they matched what they raised

That being said American Cancer Society uses .20 per $1.00 donated for actual cancer the rest goes to salaries, rent, and obviously trips. I usually find grass root charities to donate to or research which ones spend the most on the actual cause.


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AGREED! It's a nice gesture but I wish they did some more research on the charity they wanted to support. One that would have more benefits for the people they are actually looking to help. Breast cancer awareness is a big business and is grossly overfunded compared to diseases that effect women at much higher rates. You have to be careful who you support because your money definitely isn't always going where you think. Not saying it's a bad thing they did this fundraiser but more research could have been done to find a charity who would do more with the money.


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[FakingIt_MakingIt]

I agree. If anyone else did this there would be all sorts of crap. They will claim a huge tax deduction, and are going on a free trip.
It's great they donated but they definitely played it in their favour. And if it were any other YouTube couple people would be TICKED.