Helping Haiti

"Single £3.97 ... At least £1 goes to charity."

I'm sure it's not just Simon Cowell profiting from disaster. Sure it isn't.

But still -- why buy a single from a bunch of crap artists when just donating the money directly would give more to where it's needed, rather than to recording studios / CD duplicating facilities / Cowell's pockets / etc?

It's raised awareness, I'm sure; and it's probably getting money from those who can afford to give but wouldn't care enough to donate normally -- yes, despite what you think, you don't actually care if you're only giving because you get a high-profile single in return.

That's the long and the short of it: if you actually care about the charity, not Simon Cowell's latest money-making scheme, you'd donate £3.97 directly instead of buying the single.