Here is a list of all the items currently for sale on the grantLOVE Project website, as well as the various descriptions used about profit distribution, if any:
100% profits donated... (3 items)
- Black grantLOVE hoodie with WHITE --- $115
- Pink grantLOVE hoodie with BLACK --- $115
- Blue grantLOVE x Zink Quilt --- $6,500
Profits from... go to...
(22 items)
- Love Tie-Dye Hoodies --- $115
- Black grantLOVE hoodie with GOLD --- $115
- LOVE Tie-Dye T-Shirts --- $45
- LOVE Trucker Hat --- $35
- grantLOVE for ODLR print- aquamarine --- $150
- grantLOVE for ODLR print- amber --- $150
- grantLOVE for ODLR print- coral --- $150
- grantLOVE for ODLR print- light pink --- $150
- grantLOVE for ODLR prints – all four --- $600
- LOVE, 2019 print – cream --- $150
- LOVE, 2019 print – fuschia --- $150
- LOVE, 2019 print– lavender --- $150
- LOVE, 2019 print– brick --- $150
- LOVE, 2019 print– suite of four --- $500
- LOVE, 2020 print– gold foil --- $150
- grantLOVE xCynthia Navarro print 2018 --- $75
- grantLOVE x Jesse Parrott print 2018 --- $100
- grantLOVE Beach Towel – Pink --- $59.99
- grantLOVE Beach Towel – Blue --- $59.99
- Small LOVE neon – black/white --- $7,500
- Medium LOVE neon - black/pink --- $15,000
- United in LOVE neon--- $30,000
A Percentage of the profits go to... (9 items)
- Small LOVE neon – green --- $7,500
- Small LOVE neon – purple --- $7,500
- Small LOVE neon – white --- $7,500
- Small LOVE neon – blue --- $7,500
- Small LOVE neon – pink --- $7,500
- Small LOVE neon – green --- $7,500
- Large LOVE neon – black/white --- $20,000
- Large LOVE neon – white --- $20,000
- Large LOVE neon – pink --- $20,000
A portion of the profits go to...
(3 items)
- grantLOVE Necklace – Sterling Silver --- $175
- grantLOVE Necklace – Gold --- $775
- grantLOVE Micro Pavé Diamond Necklace --- $3,500
Benefits... (5
items)
- grantLOVE x Cahetejack L.L.L. (Lunar, Love, Lady) print --- $150
- grantLOVE x Cahetejack Team Power print --- $150
- grantLOVE x Cahetejack Love Chakras print --- $150
- grantLOVE x Cahetejack Rainbow Mood print --- $150
- grantLOVE x Cahetejack all four prints --- $600
No Profits donated...
(12 items)
- Companion Heart Crew Neck Sweatshirt --- $100
- Companion Crew Neck Sweatshirt --- $100
- grantLOVE Shopping Bag --- $45
- grantLOVE Fabric Zip Clutch --- $25
- grantLOVE hoodie/Sweatshirt-Side Pockets --- $115
- grantLOVE hoodie/Sweatshirt --- $115
- grantLOVE Crew Neck Sweatshirt --- $100
- grantLOVE x Zinc Quilt – black --- $8,000
- Love, love, love – pink 2018 --- $12,500
- Love, love, love – blue 2018 --- $12,500
- Love, love, love – lavender 2018 --- $12,500
- I was Born To Love Not To Hate Stickers --- $5
Lets summarize the list:
3 Items where 100% of the profits go towards charity.
22 items that list “profits go to”… (We have no way of knowing
how much of these profits go towards charity. It could be a percentage just as
it could be $1 for every purchase. NO TRANSPARENCY HERE. “Profits go to” does
not mean all profits go to.
9 items that list “% of the profits” going to charity (NO
TRANSPARENCY regarding what the % is. It could be as little as 1%. There's no
way to know).
3 items where “a portion of the profits go to”… (NO TRANSPARENCY. What portion? A percentage? A dollar amount for every sale?)
5 items that say “benefits”...
(Confusing? How will it benefit?? NO TRANSPARENCY).
12 items listed on the website with no mention of any profits from
the sale of these items going to charity. (This is VERY TRANSPARENT.
NOTHING IS BEING DONATED. THIS IS VERY CLEAR).
Of the 54 items listed on the grantLOVE website:
- Only 3 items are listed as 100% going to charity.
- 39 items have some undetermined portion going towards charity.
- 12 items are listed with definitively NO PORTION
going to charity.
For Alexandra Grant to advertise grantLOVE Project as a
non-profit, when there are only 3 out of the 54 items listed for
sale there that would qualify as non-profit charitable purchases, is blatant
false advertising.
In order for her to be legally able to use comparisons and/or references to
well known non-profit charities (Newman’s Own and Red Campaign) in her
advertising, ALL OF THE ITEMS ON THE grantLOVE PROJECT WEBSITE MUST LIST 100%
OF PROFITS GO TO CHARITY.
What she is doing with regards to grantLOVE Project
is PROHIBITED by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as it is considered
deceptive advertising (see below).
Advertising and Marketing on the Internet: Rules of
the Road
"The FTC Act prohibits unfair or deceptive advertising in any medium. That is, advertising must tell the truth and not mislead consumers. A claim can be misleading if any relevant information is left out or if the claim implies something that is not true."
This means that the way she is advertising grantLOVE Project, both on the
website and in PR articles (see attachments and links below), is illegal.
The fact that she has 12 items listed for sale on her grantLOVE Project
website that have NO PORTION going to charity makes her comparison to
a non-profit charity that much more egregious. This is blatant fraud.
This is how Newman’s Own advertises their non-profit charity. This is how it should be done:
100% Profits to Charity - Newman's Own
“Our “100% of
Profits to Charity” commitment is one of two founding values upon which
Newman’s Own is built (the other being “Quality Will Always Trump the Bottom
Line”). It’s a very important part of our story, it’s in our DNA, it’s why we
exist, it motivates all of us, and it’s the true heart of Newman’s Own. We
are proud of this commitment and want to be clear and unambiguous about what we
mean when we say “100% of Profits to Charity.” It’s not something we just
thought up to boost sales, it’s not a play on words, and one shouldn’t need
an accounting degree to understand it. We have been doing it for over 35 years,
and as of 2019, have donated over $550 million to thousands of deserving
organizations around the world.
In the simplest terms, when we say 100% of profits, we mean what’s
left over (aka surplus, balance, difference) after normal business expenses are
deducted from all the income we derive from sales from our food and
beverage business. That income comes from two sources, direct sales of our
products and royalties paid by both the Company and third parties we license to
sell our products.”
There is perfect transparency here. a consumer can feel assured in the knowledge that their purchase will benefit others, unquestioningly.
I actually love this part; "it’s not something we just thought up to
boost sales, it’s not a play on words,..." This implies
that they stand by every word they say and they are not
using clever phrasing to disguise deceptive intentions, there are no ulterior
motivations.
This is how Alexandra Grant advertises her grantLOVE Project charity on her website:
https://www.grantlove.com/pages/about-w-news
“The grantLOVE project is an artist-owned and operated project that produces
and sells original artworks and editions to benefit artists and arts
non-profits.
Created by Los Angeles artist Alexandra Grant in 2008, grantLOVE is a symbol
of artist philanthropy. Alexandra was inspired by the work of Paul Newman
and the Newman’s Own brand as a form of lateral philanthropy, where a
company sells products in order to generate profits to give to charity. To date,
the sale of grantLOVE products and Alexandra’s artwork (prints, sculpture,
etc.), necklaces and rings have raised funds to support multiple Los
Angeles art projects and charities.”
There is complete lack of transparency here. The comparison Alexandra
Grant is trying to establish here with Newman’s Own is false. In fact, she kind
of gives this away when she mentions they "sell products to generate
profits to give to charity", but gives no clarity as whether ALL THE
PROFITS from the products sold is intended for charity.
There is no commitment established here as to the portion of the
profits. The way it is stated gives the sense that it could be 100%, but this
isn’t clear. The fact that in the previous sentence Newman’s Own is mentioned
(well known and well established non-profit) further
deceives the consumer into thinking that 100% of profits is what is meant by
this, without this actually being confirmed.
I also think that the very first sentence, benefit artists and arts
non-profits, is another deception tactic on her part. By using the words “non-profit”
in her opening statement about grantLOVE Project it insinuates a misleading
connection to grantLOVE Project being a non-profit when that is not the case.
The last sentence where she mentions “to date, grantLOVE Project… has raised
funds” is completely absurd to me. grantLOVE Project was established in
2008. I certainly hope they would have raised funds for charity since then. The
fact that she does not attribute any hint as to the quantity of money raised
since its inception is alarming to me. If fact, that whole sentence feels
like a way to deflect from any accountability towards honestly answering that
question. Very suspicious.
The way she advertises grantLOVE Project on the website
is the opposite of Newman's Own. In my opinion, it is something she just
thought up to boost sales, it is a play on words. It is deception.
This is how Alexandra Grant advertises her grantLOVE Project charity in PR articles:
Spread a Little Love: Artist Alexandra Grant Teams
Up With Chocolatiers for Valentine's Day - LA Weekly
“Inspired by Paul Newman and Newman’s Own, grantLOVE is a philanthropic company, rooted deeply in the idea of giving. “I really love the idea that I can work with artists or companies and then offer a strong visual identity that communicates. My dream is for the grantLOVE symbol to sort of be like the Red campaign so that you know when you’re buying something with it on there you’re supporting the arts or arts education,” Grant said”
Again, she is wrongfully comparing grantLOVE Project to Newman’s Own. She even takes it a step further and mentions that it is her dream for her LOVE symbol to be a recognized brand like the RED CAMPAIGN.
The Red Campaign is another non-profit charity that contributes 100% of its funds. Therefore, in this article, Alexandra Grant is comparing grantLOVE Project to not one, but TWO well know non-profit charities. Yet her grantLOVE Project does not operate like a non-profit. Again this is blatant false advertising.
This was not a misprint in an article. These are her own words in a PR article that came out February 12, 2020, right before Valentine's Day, for her collaborative work with And Sons (chocolatiers) and the chocolate boxes she designed for them. This was a promotional venture and the article would have been approved and paid for by her and And Sons chocolatiers. She did not misspeak. This was a deliberate attempt to misrepresent grantLOVE Project as a non-profit charity.
Also, in this article she alludes to wanting the consumers to "feel
secure about her LOVE brand symbol, knowing that whenever they see that
symbol/brand on a product that they can be assured that the profits from the
sale went towards supporting the arts and art education."
How can she
say this and then list 12 items (9 of which bear the LOVE brand/symbol) on the
grantLOVE Project website where no profits are going to charity?
I don't have an answer to this one. My opinion is
that she can't legally be doing this, yet she is getting away with it. In
fact, she's been getting away with it for the past 12 years.
Alexandra Grant and all her respective entities (grantLOVE Project, X Artists' Books) are not registered with the State of California's Registry of Charitable Trust in any way. Not as a charity. Not as a coventurer. Given that her fundraising with And Sons was a collaborative endeavor, she would have had to register this with the state. Same goes with her collaborative fundraising efforts with Oscar de la Renta, OCMA, Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA), Devon Tsuno, the artist Risk and, I am sure, many many more.
I am also going to take a wild guess that it will be the same regarding the upcoming grantLOVE x Marfa pop-up shop scheduled for April 2021.
Just so you understand, she would have to register for EVERY SINGLE COLLABORATIVE ENDEAVOR. One registration for each… every time… year after year. That adds up to a lot of missing registrations.
She has been fraudulently representing grantLOVE Project as a non-profit with many artists and business entities (charitable or otherwise). Also included in this is Frieze.
It is clearly stated that the backlot is exclusively for non-profits.
I am not sure how Alexandra Grant's grantLOVE Project came to be included in this.
Was Frieze negligent in checking grantLOVE Project's eligibility for participation in this event?
Did they just take Ms. Grant's word, as stated on her resume, that grantLOVE Project was a non-profit and assumed it was a registered charity?
Or did they know and chose to turn a blind eye because it served their purpose?
Unfortunately, I don't have the answer to this one either. One thing I do feel confident in stating is that many well meaning and honorable people and entities are now entangled with Ms. Grant's duplicitous "charity". I also fear that many more will get drawn into this web. This is truly unfortunate.
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