Re: Brands and Rants

[Hank Green]

First, if you haven't, you'll need to watch my video about brands and hypocrisy to understand what I'm talking about.

Let me say that I obviously didn't do the correct amount of research on that Rage Against the Machine thing. But, also, that it doesn't matter to my point. It doesn't matter that Rage gave a bunch of money to charity, it doesn't matter how to pronounce Mr. MacEnberry's name, it doesn't matter that it wasn't RATM's idea.

What matters to the video is that something so intensely corporate and disgustingly saccharine as X-Factor Karaoke singles can be created by the same company producing and financing the music of one of my generation's most popular anti-establishment bands.

I'm not saying that the campaign was bad...I'm saying there's something wrong with the monolithic acquisition attitude of our capitalism.

A lot of comments on that video pointed out "of course corporations do these things just for money, that's obvious." But I think that, while it's obvious from a certain perspective, it's difficult to believe other times. We all have perceptions of the values of brands, whether it's how we feel about the Mac vs. PC thing, or what stores we choose to shop at.

You walk into a Hot Topic and there's good music on the shelves and funny shirts on the walls, and it's a place where I want to be. I like that the guy behind the counter can pass a kielbasa through his ear lobe.

Those are the values of the company...and they are similar to mine.

But when I walk past Abercrombie and Fitch and there's a humongous naked man sitting there, and the slatted windows and powerful scents giving off an aura of exclusivity and perfection and I hate that shit, y'know?

What I don't want is for both of those companies to be owned by the same company (which they are not, though someone in the comments told me they were.)

I want to live in a world where corporations look at the values of their companies and say "No, we can't start up a company that objectifies women when another of our companies prizes it's campaign to celebrate true beauty."

I'm not saying that it's necessarily surprising that capitalism can cancel out all values in that way, but it does seem intrinsically wrong. And I think that women who buy Dove soap believe in those brand values, and I want to encourage them to buy Dove soap, thus encouraging positive values. But when the parent company simultaneously makes horrible ads for men, encouraging disgusting behavior and beliefs.

There's nothing wrong with brands having values, but I want more than that. I want parent companies to have values too. Instead of Unilever sitting in the background and doing it's best to not ever be noticed by anyone, I want them to come out and say "The Axe Brand is bad for the world, we're selling it off to Maxim Magazine" or some company that has similar brand values.

There was also some discussion about people at big companies. I'm not saying that people working for Dove are bad...or even people working for Unilever or Axe. I'm saying that those people need to keep their jobs, and the bigger the company, the easier it is to ignore that their jobs have real effects on the world and that, when they do something good for the company, they might be doing something bad for the world. And I'd never ask one of those people to not do their job and get fired. It's not the fault of the people, it's the fault of the structure of large corporations.

And then there are the people who say "That's just how business is done." And let me assure you...that is not true. The majority of businesses in America are not owned by giant monolithic companies like Unilever or Time Warner, they're owned by individuals.

Hot Topic is it's own company. EcoGeek is it's own company. Your local book store is it's own company. Small businesses employ more people in America than all large businesses combined. And small businesses have values, they're invested in their community, they believe what their owners believe.

Small businesses, which, again, are more economically significant, when all combined, do have values...and that is how most business is done.

[Dome]

I agree that big corporates are most likely to lie to us, but we I would also take into account that a majority of us likes it being lied to. Otherwise this would have never gone this far. We have the choice to buy or not to buy a brand.
As you sp beautifully said small businesses have values - my ex owns a photostudio in a not so wealthy part f London but still, it is a small company he build up together with a friend and they address two kinds of customers: There is the regular "Let's make a portfolio and you can book us for your wedding"-part and the "We do erotic pictures part without giving to much away"-part of his "branch". It is one studio with two different names. One could argue that he combines two things that shouldn't be together: family friendly and naughty in the same house!
Well, even in small businesses you can have the diversity of brands.

[sugartits]

I completely agree. Corporate hypocrisy is almost as sickening to me as all the other atrocities corporations inevitably start to commit once they grow powerful enough. The "civilized" world -- or at least the Western world -- has made money far too important, leading corporations to go to farther and farther lengths and depths to bring more of it in. They've become bloated and desensitized, but most importantly dehumanized, to the point that, although run by humans, they're capable of doing things no human could, or at least should, ever do. Whether it's the sweat shops or slavery we hear about, or even just moral issues like this kind of parent corporation hypocrisy, the whole thing's gotten completely out of hand. Not that I have any ideas as far as solutions to the problem....



P.S. On a semi-unrelated note, all those improper "it's"-es are making my grammar gland ache :(...

[Dan Muhlenkamp]

Weren't all of these big coorperations once owned by individuals? Once those idividuals are gone, the morals of the company die too and that's when the company goes down the crapper. Look at Disney. Disney was a lot better while Walt Disney was still around. I'm not saying it was perfect, but it was still much better. Disney may still make their good quality cartoons and kids movies, but they also polute the media with content inappropriate for children. Disney is well known for being a company for children, but so much of what they're pumping out retains the Disney label, yet lacks the the morality and consideration for our youth's well being. I'd even prefer our youth watch nickelodeon rather than Disney channel.

[Brendan]

Big corporations or small businesses, it's all capitalism, all for money. Whether or not a brand pretends to have "values", the system as a whole is inherently profit-driven and amoral. Anyone who disagrees, remember that our modern global economy originates in part with the "triangle trade" in which European trade goods were exchanged for kidnapped Africans who where then sold in the New World in exchange for goods produced by earlier victims. Think of the plantation slave's modern counterpart, the sweatshop worker.Think of all the coal miners who literally never saw the sun for years and then died prematurely of lung disease. Think of every striker ever killed by police or private thugs. Every assassinated labour activist. Everyone duped by advertising into killing themselves slowly with cigarettes and unhealthy food. The essence of capitalism is exemplified not by the idealistic little "green" or "independent" company, but by the multinational conglomerate or, better yet, the Mafia family, willing to kill for their bottom line.

[IFTBA]

I don't see the reality in suggesting that a corporation that exists solely to own profitable companies, should try to own only companies that all share some unstated but specific moral stance. Maybe all the companies that fit into that category aren't profitable. You can't expect them to own crappy companies that some arbitrary party deems "good." Nor can you force there to be a corporation that exclusively owns companies deemed "bad." In this particular case, you've got two essentially equal products. Neither has any morality attached. It's not like we're talking guns and baby diapers. It's two hygiene/beauty products. One appeals to what women respond to. One appeals to what men respond to. Men wear cologne to attract women. The commercials are just a silly exaggeration of that, which is how advertising works, for everything. Women like to be told they're beautiful, and Dove's campaign is equally as far as that concept could be exaggerated. Both of these ideas exist because they make money. It's not salient which one you think is good, or which one seems more sincere.

And frankly, you can't demand that all companies have some moral value attached to them. If that was true, we wouldn't be able to buy shoelaces or paperclips.

I can understand the moral outrage at the idea of a such a dilemma, since buying Axe also gives money to Dove's parent company, and not just the other way around... but I can't see any non-fascist solution to it. It makes for a good heated argument, but people can't just boycott every product they like because it's tenuously connected to a product they don't like. And since it just comes down to a matter of taste, it's not exactly a life or death situation.

[Eric aka moosemuffin]

I'm sure you know this but I think it ought to be said, your right that there are vastly more sole proprietorship or "small businesses" then corporations but it needs to be said that corporations make overwhelmingly more money then those small businesses. Though it is the way business is done in corporations since their only legal duty is to maximize profits, not care about the community or values. That along with the lack of liability is the problem with corporations. Though I'd go farther to denounce capitalism as being the root of the problem that encourages such entities to exist and act in the way that they do.

[Crystal "Stray" Wilson]

I'm surprised to see a male complaining about Axe's perverted ads. Thank you for somewhat revitalizing my faith in the male race. Well, not so much as race, as that means species. I'm not entirely sure how else to word that though.

At any rate, this is all a good reason for none of us with morals to not let any companies we start go bigtime corporate.

[Team Unicorn]

Hank, I didn't know you liked Hot Topic. I also didn't even know Hot Topic was its own company...which makes me wonder why they fill their store with so much Twilight merchandise that my eyes want to bleed. Anyway, great post as always. It'd be great if you did more posts like this. I certainly enjoy reading them and learning more about the world around me and more about you as well. Dftba.

[Ivanaa]

I completely agree with you Hank, nice post.

[Ryan Hamel]

One Word. Agreed.