MedRecruit has just launched a calendar called 'Men of
MedRecruit' where 12 of their doctors have posed naked for
charity. Photo from NZPA/MedRecruit.
Children's charity KidsCan is horrified its name has been
linked to a calendar of nude men, and is refusing to accept
money from its sale.
Men with links to medical recruit firm MedRecruit bared all
in the calendar, saying all the money raised would go to
KidsCan, a charity for underprivileged children.
The men, many of them doctors, were shown in a range of
poses, from lying in bed looking sultry, to mountainbiking
and surfing. No wiggly bits were shown.
But KidsCan general manager Julie Henson told NZPA the
calendar was "inappropriate", and she would not touch the
money it raised.
While she had seen some of the text used, she had not
seen the nude photographs until shown them by NZPA.
"We didn't have final approval," she said.
"Now that we've see it we don't think it's appropriate. We've
communicated with them that we're not happy about it.
"They might want to chose another charity, like prostate
cancer - something for men, not for children."
MedRecruit managing director Sam Hazledine, who appears clad
in a stethoscope as Mr December, was surprised to learn Ms
Henson was upset.
After talking to KidsCan, he accepted linking nude men and
children had been a mistake.
"In retrospect I have to say this wasn't an appropriate
charity for this particular calendar," he told NZPA.
"As such, we are going to donate all proceeds of the calendar
to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand.
"Raising money for a men's cause is far more appropriate and
the calendar is going to raise a lot of money so it's great
that it will be going to a worthy cause."
He still thought KidsCan was a "fantastic" charity, "which is
why I wanted to support them".
Initially, he was of the view there was nothing inappropriate
about the photos, as no male bits were showing.
"We see the calendar as a fun way of drawing attention to and
raising money for a very worthy cause," he said, before
finding out KidsCan disapproved.
"In my experience boring doesn't work, so we decided to get a
bit creative so that people would be excited to get behind
this charity.
"And it's worked, we are getting hundreds of orders for
calendars so we're raising a lot of money for KidsCan.
"I don't think a calendar of watercolour landscapes would
have had quite the same effect!"
All Blacks Doug Howlett and Ali Williams are KidsCan patrons.
Bookmark/Search this post with:
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.