Tesco: Computers for Schools 2006
Name:
Computers for Schools
Sponsor:
TESCO Ireland
In Brief
Recommendation:
The latest example of Tesco’s insatiable appetite for in-school promotion is unequivocally rejected as exploitative, pressurising and self-serving in the extreme.
Objective:
“to help the schools of Ireland to get more computer equipment, accessories and software into their classrooms!”
Classification:
Incentive Scheme – €10 spent
= 1 voucher.
Year:
2006 (9th Year)
Past Record:
Tesco are one of the “market leaders” in terms of school commercialism in Ireland - Computers for Schools is their 3rd major initiative in the school year 05/06.
Tesco have been running Computers for Schools since 1997 and have won marketing awards (BITC 1998) for a scheme which operates in over 2,500 Irish schools. Tesco are believed to receive 10-15 million Computers for School vouchers each year, each one representing a single-transaction spend of at least €10.
Materials:
Schools receive a promotional poster displaying the voucher “target” and the equipment the school is collecting for; a collection box, a weekly target chart and catalogue. Also included are letters to local newspapers and parents/guardians appealing for vouchers. The latter reads:
“Please ask friends and relatives – in fact anyone you know – to collect the vouchers for us! What about setting up a collection point at your place of work? The children are really excited about the challenge and we know we can reach our target if we try.”
It is salutary to note that, “Collections are not allowed on Tesco premises”.
The company website goes further, offering “top tips” such as
“Have inter-class competitions with a prize for the class who collects the most vouchers.
Why not use vouchers for counting practice in Maths classes or to keep children occupied during wet playtimes.”
The scheme is supported by a generous marketing budget which pays for national television advertisements promoting the scheme. Children are also encouraged to email stories about how Computers for Schools has benefited them – a personal endorsement from the child of the company and its promotion.
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High
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Fair
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Low
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Curricular Relevance |
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Logo/Brand
Presence |
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Influence on Spending |
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Comments:
Schools have just 10 weeks to promote Tesco and get shopping for their vouchers.
A “FREE” Apple 17inch iMac (online retail price = €1,400) requires a school community to spend €261,600 at Tesco.
An entry level PC (online price €818) may be obtained “FREE” by schools who generate €215,000 worth of shopping.
“FREE” boxes of floppy discs (online price €12.50) require a mere €4,100 revenue for Tesco.
Further appeals for Tesco vouchers typically appear in parish newsletters, local papers and school websites as teachers and pupils set about promoting the brand and appealing for purchases in Tesco (in contravention of the DES circular 38/91). The posters, collection boxes and “target” charts all act to stimulate demand for shopping/vouchers and keep children working on the company’s behalf.
Recommendation:
The latest example of Tesco’s insatiable appetite for in-school promotion is unequivocally rejected as exploitative, pressurising and self-serving in the extreme.
We challenge Tesco to defend this realities of this commercial scheme: -
- Computers for Schools exploits the goodwill of parents and communities towards schools to gain promotion and sales.
- It excuses and prolongs the underfunding of ICT in Irish schools (NCTE 2002) at time when Ireland is a global leader in computer technology.
- It discriminates against smaller and disadvantaged schools who cannot generate such colossal revenues for Tesco as are required – exacerbating the ICT divide between richer and poorer communities.
- The net contribution to schools from each €10 spent at Tesco is as little as 0.04 cent.
- It pressurises teachers, exploits schools as a closed market and converts parents into company promoters.
In 2004 there was one voucher collection scheme. In 2006 there are three nationwide incentive schemes as the commercial marketing encroaches ever more on Irish schools. The school is not a revolving billboards to promote Tesco in September, Spar in November, SuperValu in January and Tesco again by March. We encourage schools to take a stand in defence of commercial-free space and urge that they resist this wave of corporate interference.
