On Corporations Profiting And Voting With Our Dollars
Sometime in March, the following advertisement was circulating:
I like how it has subtitles.
When it first came out, those who weren't cooing about how progressive it was, how great it was, was criticising it, saying, "well, of course, but in the end, there's only one reason to do such an ad - to make money. And we're all buying into it."
Well, of course we would, right? Because it's a positive ad. If the bank really espouses such values, then isn't it worthwhile supporting? Even though it's an example of capitalism at work?
Recently, the Methods Shiny Suds PSA campaign went viral, creating a chain of events across the feminist blogosphere. From the looks of it, it turned off a lot of potential consumers of Method from ever buying Method products ever again. Even I will be on the lookout for Method products and making a note to not buy them. And screed after screed was published of men who refused to give up their right to laugh at the idea of a woman being sexually harassed by soap bubbles.
I think to myself, if capitalism is the major ecomic system at the moment, then we should be praising ads like the one of the bank. Even if it's "done for profit" - of course it's done for profit. The systems of capitalism have been set up and ingrained so deep, it is impossible to topple it unless we created such a huge market crash and had to go back to subsistence farming, it would continue to be that way.
So I figure, if corporations are going to milk us, the people, the consumers, for profit, they better do it in a way that makes us happy. I think corporations have the responsibility to ensure that the world is as safe as possible. Why? Because they are so powerful. Whats the use of milking people for money, of having all these campaigns and funds and resources for us, if you're going to just make the world even worse for those of us who already have it bad?
I like how it has subtitles.
When it first came out, those who weren't cooing about how progressive it was, how great it was, was criticising it, saying, "well, of course, but in the end, there's only one reason to do such an ad - to make money. And we're all buying into it."
Well, of course we would, right? Because it's a positive ad. If the bank really espouses such values, then isn't it worthwhile supporting? Even though it's an example of capitalism at work?
Recently, the Methods Shiny Suds PSA campaign went viral, creating a chain of events across the feminist blogosphere. From the looks of it, it turned off a lot of potential consumers of Method from ever buying Method products ever again. Even I will be on the lookout for Method products and making a note to not buy them. And screed after screed was published of men who refused to give up their right to laugh at the idea of a woman being sexually harassed by soap bubbles.
I think to myself, if capitalism is the major ecomic system at the moment, then we should be praising ads like the one of the bank. Even if it's "done for profit" - of course it's done for profit. The systems of capitalism have been set up and ingrained so deep, it is impossible to topple it unless we created such a huge market crash and had to go back to subsistence farming, it would continue to be that way.
So I figure, if corporations are going to milk us, the people, the consumers, for profit, they better do it in a way that makes us happy. I think corporations have the responsibility to ensure that the world is as safe as possible. Why? Because they are so powerful. Whats the use of milking people for money, of having all these campaigns and funds and resources for us, if you're going to just make the world even worse for those of us who already have it bad?
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