The 15th annual Stamp Out Hunger canned food drive is tomorrow (5/15). The idea is for us to go to the store, buy some canned food, then leave it in our mailboxes tomorrow. About 230,000 USPS letter carriers in more than 10,000 communities will collect donations and haul them to local food banks, where they will be distributed to the needy. More here.

Giving to the less fortunate is a good thing, of course. The food drive is also a good example of “cause” marketing. By aligning your company with a noble cause, you can elevate your image while promoting your brand. Campbell’s, for example, is donating a million pounds of food to food banks across the country.

It’s a huge event — last year more than 70 million pounds of food was collected. It may be totally altruistic, but some marketing types see a potential danger. They worry that today’s cynical consumers may perceive cause marketing as a mere publicity ploy. After all, it’s no coincidence that the sponsor, Campbell’s, is one of the largest canned food producers in the world.

Could it be they’re doing it just for the bucks?

This idea was briefly explored in a Marketplace Morning Report this morning, but I’d like to hear your take. Comment in the comments, please.

Tim Ferriss has written a terrific book that explores the imbalance between work and happiness. The 4-Hour Work Week challenges the notion that we have to wait until we’re 65 before we can shake off the yoke of work and start enjoying ourselves. For most people, Ferriss writes:

“…the perfect job is the one that takes the least time. The vast majority of people will never find a job that can be an unending source of fulfillment, so that is not the goal here; to free time and automate income is.”

I agree that the most important ingredients of happiness are the “holy trinity” of time, income and mobility. Or as Ferriss puts it, “Gold is getting old.”

“People don’t want to be millionaires — they want to experience what they believe only millions can buy.”

In other words, the freedom to pursue your passions while you work, essentially, part-time.

Ferriss’s solution, briefly, is to extricate yourself from a physical presence in the office, outsource as much of your work as you can, then use the free time to pursue your passions through mini-retirements.

The New Rich… abandon the deferred-life plan and create luxury lifestyles in the present using the currency of the New Rich: time and mobility.

Ferriss calculates that your dream lifestyle probably costs a lot less than you think. No wonder the book has become an instant Amazon best-seller. (As I write this, it’s #7.)

This is the book I wish I’d had with me twenty-five years ago, when my wife and I decided we’d put our quality of life ahead of career advancement. After much soul-searching and research, we decided to take a big risk. Our plan: Locate and buy our “retirement” home first, while we were still young enough to enjoy it, then figure out a way to make a living.

We left Los Angeles and moved all the way across the country to the coast of southern Maine, where we bought a charming old farmhouse on a couple of acres of land. We didn’t know a soul in the entire state. I had a modest contract with CBS Radio to write and produce short features, but that was barely enough to live on. We had zero job prospects. But we were both smart and hard-working, and after a few false starts things got rolling.

In the early ’80s, of course, we couldn’t do it Ferriss’s way. There was no Internet, no email, no outsourcing. Heck, a fax machine was an exotic, expensive investment.

Frankly, our lifestyle decision has been a real roller-coaster ride for us, equal parts exhilaration and fear — but very little boredom. It’s been a grand adventure, and neither of us regret it at all.

I remember as a kid hoping I’d never get trapped in a boring, dull life. Boy, did that ever come true!

Deciphering your customer’s body language can offer important insights, according to a recent piece in Manage Smarter. It’s also kind of fun. According to the article, here are some ways to read a person’s physical cues:

• Nose or face scratch implies dislike.
• Head tilted to the side implies interest.
• Eye rub implies deceit.
• Hand or finger blocking the mouth implies lying.
• Thumb tucked under the chin with index finger pointing up on the cheek implies a critical attitude.
• Chin stroke implies making a decision.

But then the article goes on to discuss how to make the other person like you more, how to fool them into feeling more comfortable with you, so you can make the sale. Is it just me, or does that seem to cross the line from interpretation to manipulation?

For example, body language consultants and sales trainers always recommend you “mirror” your customer’s gestures and enthusiasm. If he’s quiet and introspective, you’re supposed to act that way too. If she’s enthusiastic and extroverted, do that. Pretending to be like them supposedly reinforces how similar the two of you are, and makes the prospect trust you — at least long enough to write the check.

Here’s my question: Is it just me, or does that sort of behavior seem phony and manipulative? Do you see it as a legitimate selling tool, or does it simply contribute to the epidemic of fakerey in the world? Doesn’t the world have enough phony smiles and artificial friendliness? (Not to mention fake boobs, facelifts and nose jobs?)

What’s wrong with being genuine? Be who you are. Be nice, but be genuine.

Let’s take the idea a step further. If the client smokes cigars, does this mean you should ignore the health risks and fire up a stogie, just to be like him? If he likes to get plastered at strip clubs then drunk-drive his car back to work, should you do the same?

Besides, how do you keep track of who you’re supposed to be today? Let’s see, I’m calling on Carl this morning, so I need to act dignified and proper. After lunch, I have an appointment with wacky Jackie so I’ve got to be joking and smoking. Wouldn’t the client or customer eventually notice — and wouldn’t that damage your image and credibility?

The more you pretend to be like different people, it seems to me, the farther you stray from your authentic self.

If you really must adopt someone else’s demeanor, why not a professional’s? Does your lawyer crack jokes in an attempt to make you like him? Does your doctor enter the examining room and mimic your posture and gestures? No — she listens to your symptoms and complaints, asks pertinent questions, makes a diagnosis and recommends a course of action. That seems like the right behavior for a sales professional to mimic.

I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on the matter. Please leave your comments below.