Corporate Moral Posturing is Detrimental to Social Issues
With the rise of the internet, people have begun to become more immune to the adverts they are constantly bombarded with. Companies have shifted their marketing strategy from a direct appeal to their product to developing their brand itself.
This means being represented not just by what they sell, but also adopting an anthropomorphic dimension to their brand. Speaking about a current social issue is an effective way to become more well-known. As these corporations’ business ploys begin to permeate more parts of our society, the delineation between marketing and other aspects of our lives begins to fade away.
When corporations invasively try to associate themselves with things beyond the marketing realm, invading social and political beliefs, their corporate power expands to another part of our lives. When reading about climate change, you’ll reflect on the environmentally-conscious brand whose advertisement you recently watched. Then, the next time you purchase a product from that brand, you will simultaneously demonstrate your global awareness and support something significant. You are now a consumer with an altruistic nature!
Corporate moral posturing is a trivialization of genuinely important issues used to promote a brand, and with no actions by the companies to back up their messaging, it can never make up for the failures directly on the company’s part in social and economic inequalities.
Some argue, “Well, of course we know that these corporations are solely profit-driven! But as long as these social issues are being brought up, why does it matter what their motive is?” However, the point is that these issues are already being talked about.
They incorporate their brand into preexisting public conversations; rather than being an interruption in your regularly scheduled programming, they integrate themselves into what you already read about and watch so that marketing ploys exist within the cohesion of racial injustice, economic inequalities, and other current social issues.
The issue isn’t just about ingenuity- it’s about hypocrisy. Take a look at Chevron’s recent greenwashing campaign, which had a complaint filed against by the Federal Trade Commission. Chevron has touted its environmental record while deceptively avoiding the fact that its plans are on the road to increasing absolute emissions.
Consumers want companies that see these social issues as genuinely essential matters, not just another easy marketing ploy. Only when we look past messaging to the actualities, recognizing virtue signaling for what it is, can corporations be held accountable and systemic issues be confronted in a genuine manner. Actions speak louder than words.
