A third of Britons think David Beckham's decision to give his wages to charity is a PR stunt
Brits are split about David Beckham’s motivation to donate his wages to charity, a YouGov poll finds. More than a third (34%) think Beckham’s decision to give away his pay for his stint playing for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) was done for publicity, while just under one in three (32%) believe he did it because it was the right thing to do.
Beckham, who is expected to play his first game for the French league leaders in the coming days, moved to the Paris club in January and announced he would give his wages away. The windfall, reported to be as much as £3.3m for his five moth spell at PSG, is expected to be given to a French children’s charity.
Image improver
The decision to give up his wages has had a positive impact on Beckham’s image as 46% of Britons now view the former England captain more favourably. Slightly more (47%) say it makes no difference to their opinion of him and 4% say the move makes them view the midfielder less favourably.
While more than half (51%) think it makes no difference which country the charitable contribution ends up benefiting, more than three in ten (31%) Britons think Beckham should have donated his wages to a charity in England.
Laurence Janta-Lipinski, Social Research Manager at YouGov, says: “While there is some cynicism about the charity pay deal being done for publicity, it certainly seems to have worked in boosting the Beckham brand. Although a sizable number of Brits would have preferred the money to have gone to an English charity, most people don’t mind which country the donation ends up in.”
