Cause marketing has come a long way and some would say, not for the better. The strategy should be a win-win for both a brand and a charity, delivering tangible benefit to everyone’s bottom line. As a former television executive, who developed cause marketing initiatives for stations owned by one of the world’s largest entertainment companies, I am an enthusiastic cause marketing cheerleader, especially for small businesses. However, I am also disappointed that a strategy designed to make so many things right has gone horribly left, and it is wrong.
In No More, The NFL’s Domestic Violence Partner, Is a Sham, Diana Moskovitz insightfully puts the current state of cause marketing into perspective. Here are a few sad highlights.
What begins as a push for change becomes an invisible force telling us that we must buy specific items and wear certain logos so we can feel better about ourselves, and if we go along, we do so not because we care but because we don’t want to feel left out. What good this does for people in need of help isn’t always clear, but it’s great for the brands, because all they have to do is slap logos on a few products and/or advertisements and throw a few pennies to charity to make themselves seem socially conscious. These logos are an embodiment of magical thinking, promising that you can do good without having to actually do anything. They’re shams, basically.
But before you run and hide from the latest on-trend cause célèbre, take a moment to think about the logic of what No More is doing. You know why they are doing this? Because it works. Because it makes money. Because we love pretending to care, especially when a brand makes it easier for us to do by removing all the pain, horror, darkness, and self-reflection and turning concern for others into products—preferably ones that can be worn.
This is how low our standards are. Gesture toward a good cause and you’re practically unassailable. No More gave Goodell and the NFL a cheap and perfect way out of a public relations disaster and we shouldn’t be surprised. We do the exact same thing every day when we throw on our Toms, our pink baseball hats, and our latest rubber bracelet of choice, shopping our way into another day with pure hearts and clean consciences.
Read the article at deadspin.com.
What do you think? Has cause marketing lost its way? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section of this post.
GB O’Brien
LGK Principal
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