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corporate social responsibilityWho Really Benefits from Voluntary Corporate Codes of Conduct?Submitted by Anne Landman on Wed, 07/02/2008 - 15:55.
Topics: advertising | corporate social responsibility | corporations | crisis management | ethics | health | international | labor | marketing | pharmaceuticals | politics | propaganda | public relations | tobacco
As trading has become more global and corporations have become more multinational, countries started discovering that they have little recourse to rein in the harmful behavior of corporations. As public clamor to regulate multinationals has grown, companies have increasingly responded by adopting "voluntary codes of conduct." But what are the real purposes for these codes? Are they just window dressing, or worse? "Voluntary Marketing Standards" Mask Marketing RealityTopics: children | corporate social responsibility | corporations | ethics | health | international | marketing | propaganda | rhetoric | tobacco
Pinkwashing: Can Shopping Cure Breast Cancer?Submitted by Anne Landman on Wed, 06/11/2008 - 15:50.
Topics: activism | advertising | cause-related marketing | corporate campaigns | corporate social responsibility | environment | health | women
Since 2002, the group Breast Cancer Action has promoted its "Think Before You Pink" campaign. It's fighting "pinkwashing," which is when corporations try to boost sales by associating their products with the fight against breast cancer. Pinkwashing is a form of slacktivism -- a campaign that makes people feel like they're helping solve a problem, while they're actually doing more to boost corporate profits. Pinkwashing has been around for a while, but is now reaching almost unbelievable levels. Two Unions Are Finding Deals at Wal-MartTopics: activism | corporate social responsibility | corporations | environment | labor | public relations
"After waging an aggressive public relations campaign against Wal-Mart for three years, the company’s full-time, union-backed critics, who once vowed never to let up, are putting down their cudgels," writes Michael Barbaro. The critics are Wal-Mart Watch, sponsored by Andy Stern and his Service Employees International Union, and WakeUpWalmart, which is financed by the United Food and Commercial Workers union. According to Barbaro, the friendlier relationship between the unions and Wal-Mart led the company to disband its controversial front group, Working Families for Wal-Mart. "Shrill condemnations and embarrassing leaked documents are giving way to acknowledgments of progress -- and, in the case of Wal-Mart Watch, free advice." Through targeted labor and environmental initiatives, Wal-Mart has left its critics "navigating a complex situation in which they have to decide, issue by issue, whether to shake hands with the company or to slap it." Healthcare Privacy Laws Quietly Assist FundraisingTopics: cause-related marketing | corporate campaigns | corporate social responsibility | corporations | education | ethics | health | human rights | marketing
Drug Companies: Marketing Machines Gone AwryTopics: advertising | corporate social responsibility | corporations | ethics | health | journalism | marketing | pharmaceuticals | propaganda | public relations | science | third party technique
Weekly Radio Spin: Smokin' the CompetitionSubmitted by Judith Siers-Poisson on Fri, 05/16/2008 - 12:03.
Topics: activism | advertising | arts/culture | children | corporate social responsibility | corporations | crisis management | ethics | health | internet | lobbying | marketing | politics | public relations | race/ethnic issues | science | social justice | tobacco | U.S. government | Weekly Radio Spin
Nestling into the British GovernmentTopics: children | corporate social responsibility | corporations | ethics | health | international | lobbying | politics | women
Green Marketing, Greenwashing and Bitter Eco Villains - What's A Corporation to Do?Topics: cause-related marketing | corporate social responsibility | corporations | environment | marketing
Adweek has an interesting article examining environmental corporate social responsibility in light of the latest consumer survey data designed to help companies profit from green marketing. They caution corporations to "realize they're swimming against a turbid current of anti-corporate sentiment. ... This is the backdrop against which greenwashing has become a household word among eco-activists. And it threatens to become part of ordinary consumers' vocabulary as well. ... When you learn that a brand you use" is greenwashing, "it's like getting a holiday card that says a donation has been made in your name to a cause you dislike." On the other hand, a new TNS survey finds what some might call a 'bitter' market segment who do "not respond well to green messaging." These so-called Eco Villiains are "predominantly Midwestern, middle-income family-men in small to mid-sized metro areas. Eco Villains do not believe in global warming, disdain eco-conscious products and suspect that environmental media coverage is propaganda." The New Whopper: Burger with a Side of SpiesTopics: activism | corporate campaigns | corporate social responsibility | democracy | ethics | human rights | labor | secrecy | social justice
Author Eric Schlosser editorializes about "the growing threat to civil liberties posed by corporate spying," citing Burger King Corporation's spying on the Student/Farmworker Alliance and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers through Cara Schaffer and her private security firm, Diplomatic Tactical Services. "The Bill of Rights was adopted to protect Americans from the abusive power of their government. I've come to believe that we now need a similar set of restrictions to defend against irresponsible corporate power. Today companies like Wal-Mart and ExxonMobil have annual revenues larger than the entire budgets of some states, and they employ former agents from the F.B.I., the C.I.A. and the Secret Service to do security work," Schlosser writes. "John Chidsey, the chief executive of Burger King, knew about the use of Diplomatic Tactical Services. Mr. Chidsey should get a chance to raise his right hand and tell members of Congress why he thinks this sort of behavior is acceptable." Meanwhile, Burger King says it is "investigating online postings made by one of its vice presidents vilifying the Coalition of Immokalee Workers," reports the Fort Myers News-Press. |
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The Politics and PR of Cervical CancerA four-article series by CMD's Associate Director, Judith Siers-Poisson. Upcoming events |