Last weekend, spectators enjoying the U.S.A Homeless National Soccer Tournament were treated not only to games from dedicated players, but also an opportunity to win some treats. “Next in the raffle, we got some Nike sneakers here,” the MC announced during a game’s halftime. His words echoed off court walls, which held logos and names of sponsors – Nike, with a splash of Deloitte and Microsoft. Just when I escaped Deloitte’s relentless recruitment posters at school, my foe and I were face-to-face again.
But why should I be surprised? It’s just part of the growing trend of corporations sneaking into good causes for a squeaky-clean façade. Microsoft is also listed a “benefactor” on the Sierra Club’s website, though the “I’m doing good” link to a page on how they help nature brings up a 404 error. Well, ignore how their empire symbolizes ubiquitous PCs assembled by underpaid workers in unsafe working environments. (Apple, you’re not off the hook either.)
And remember when BP rebranded itself as Beyond Petroleum? It took out pages of ads in weeklies like Newsweek for bubbly depictions of nature, rendered in bright, yet soothing cartoon shapes, to assure us of the progress the company was making toward defeating the world’s oil addiction.
Brand management reigns supreme. Everyone, whether a business or nonprofit, needs a logo and slick website. In fact, it’s sometimes hard to tell which is which. Coca-Cola, donated $2.5 million to the National Park Service in 2007 to encourage citizens’ support of parks. The company could address how it hinders our enjoyment of parks with landfill-occupying packaging that litters the outdoors, or how its products make Americans so obese they can’t go for a long forest walk.
Nah, too hard.
A 3D Imax Smithsonian film, though ostensibly educational, has a cartoon clip and trailers at the beginning. A cheery bird flies along, sees power being wasted and tries to pull out the plug. But, being just a bird, it can’t. A human comes over and helps it. Soon, we see a community engaged in a happy dance of responsible living: riding bikes, recycling cell phones, composting, etc. A narrator comes on at the end, saying we, unlike big corporations, can each do our small part to help the environment. A logo crops up. What’s the big corporation change won’t come from? Ah, this time the source of the message is Nokia. Next time a company tries to remind you its bad practices are for a worthy cause – say, Starbucks trumpeting the good it does for farmers while failing to provide recycling for plastic cups – just accept it. After it, it’s just one big company with tens of thousands of employees – what else do you expect them to do?
