The Smell of Selling
The National PTA has been criticized for selling its name and logo for use in back-to-school advertising by the office supply chain, Office Depot.
Neither the PTA or Office Depot would disclose how much the nonprofit organization was paid for the use of its name, which has recently appeared in a number of TV commercials and store advertisements.
In the TV commercials, Office Depot is named “the official school supply headquarters” of the PTA. The PTA logo also appeared on sweepstakes boxes, signs, and shopping bags.
Manya Unger, a former national president of the PTA, says: “There’s a very fine line to maintain your purity and integrity. Once you overstep it, you open yourself and your organization up to prostitution.”
But Patty Yoxall, a PTA spokeswoman, says: “We were extremely anxious in how we approached this. We are not promoting any product or service. We are not promoting anything.
