Underneath the surface of corporate social responsibility, or, cure cancer with your credit card!
We’ve managed to stay away from Club Libby Lu because we avoid malls at all costs.
Which is not always easy. Remember, I live in Minneapolis, home of the MOST HUGEST AND COOLEST MALL IN THE UNIVERSE.
This hysterical post at Daddy Types (which I found via a scraper site, of all things) was written as a rebuttal to a comment from a Libby Lu employee on a previous post.
Daddy Types successfully counters the commenter’s argument that Club Libby Lu is really a saint-like retailer:
. . . Club libby Lu donated an insane amount to St. Jude’s cancer research hospital . . . [and] we have been supporting Girl scouts of America for years now.
This is a perfect example of the conundrum people face when a company touts their “good works” as a reason to continue buying their product.
After all, don’t we want to support companies that do good work?
Another example is Unilever:
Too many girls develop low self-esteem from hang-ups about looks. Consequently, many fail to reach their full potential later in life. The Dove Self-Esteem Fund is an agent of change to educate and inspire girls on a wider definition of beauty.
On the surface, bravo! However, a closer look reveals that Unilever still makes a profit from women who believe that their skin isn’t the right color and from men who believe that their sexual desires should be reserved for naughty supermodels. Neither of which seems to be inspiring our daughters with a “wider definition of beauty.”
And McDonald’s is asking kids to Bee Good to the Planet by making an “eco-pledge” for the environment. But doesn’t that Happy Meal still come with a useless piece of plastic that will most likely live forever in a landfill?
Responsible marketing is more that just another sales strategy. But these superficial campaigns work. Corporations count on the fact that no one will take the time to peek behind their curtain.
Next time a company brags about its social responsibility? Take a closer look.
Action: Support the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood’s initiative to Tell Unilever: It’s Time to Ax their Exploitative Marketing
November 15th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Interesting post. It is true that companies tout their “good works” to lure people in. I can see the same sort of thing happening with the eco movement. I heard on NPR last night that the high-end NY department store Barneys has adopted the theme “green” for this Christmas. Will they sell more ecologically responsible alligtaor purses? I think “green” is becoming the new “black.” Great blog!
November 20th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
so true! I hope my son will be adept at deconstructing media (mixed) messages and looking at the big picture. Those are some great examples. I am also in Minnesota (Saint Cloud).
November 27th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
I always frown suspiciously when companies starting do-gooding. You know what really makes me hysterical, though? All the pink stuff you can buy “to support” breast cancer. Really, for every dollar you spend, how much goes to a breast cancer charity and how much actually funds research? I’m way dubious.
Excellent blog, interesting topic - I’m subscribing!
November 27th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
I attempt to make it a point to frequent establishments who support or promote the beliefs that I hold. I will not support Target, for example, because of their publicized lack of support for various fraternal military organizations, their policy with regard to Santa Claus, their removal of Christian causes from their underlying mission statement. I will, however, frequent establishments who promote and donate to the causes that I favor. Such is free enterprise, freedom of speech, on both my list of favored and disfavored merchants. If it is necessary for a company to offers “lures”, it is totally up to personal preferences if you wish to frequent establishments, no one else.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Anne, I don’t know what you are talking about re: Target and fraternal military organizations — ?
November 27th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Just attempting to make a statement that all of us chose to frequent those merchants that either support a cause we believe in, i.e., pink “stuff” for breast cancer, or avoid those merchants. “Lures” are part of their marketing campaign. If it works for them, fine. If it doesn’t, move on to the next lure. That is the power of advertising and marketing. My reference to Target indicates that I personally feel that they have chosen all of the wrong causes to support and publicly denounce. Therefore, any lures that they may offer me would be totally unattractive. Simple.
November 28th, 2007 at 8:21 am
Anne, agreed. But I don’t think that everyone has easy access to that kind of information. People need to be informed to be able to make those kinds of decisions. You’re a step ahead of many people — you know a lure is a lure.