{"id":17552,"date":"2019-08-13T02:02:20","date_gmt":"2019-08-13T02:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=17552"},"modified":"2019-08-14T05:17:42","modified_gmt":"2019-08-14T05:17:42","slug":"companies-promoting-causes-can-be-accused-of-wokewashing-allying-themselves-only-for-good-pr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/companies-promoting-causes-can-be-accused-of-wokewashing-allying-themselves-only-for-good-pr\/","title":{"rendered":"Companies promoting causes can be accused of ‘wokewashing’ \u2013 allying themselves only for good PR"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kim Sheehan<\/a>, University of Oregon<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

More consumers want companies to address societal problems<\/a>, including climate change<\/a> and crumbling infrastructure<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Additionally, more than half<\/a> want to buy from brands that take stands on social issues<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the same time, consumers are increasingly skeptical about these partnerships<\/a>, seeing them as marketing stunts. It\u2019s called wokewashing.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a professor of brand responsibility<\/a>, and my forthcoming research investigates brands and their relationships with social issues, including the importance of both allies and advocates.<\/p>\n

Allies or advocates<\/h2>\n

In marketing terms, allies are members of a dominant social group that bring attention to important social issues<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A company can serve as an ally when it works to increase awareness about issues affecting marginalized groups.<\/p>\n

Advocates take a more active role, working to change political, economic and social systems<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Companies can be advocates when they create campaigns to promote institutional change and provide financial support for groups engaged in creating social change.<\/p>\n

Yoplait\u2019s campaign to address patronizing attitudes toward moms<\/a> is an example of corporate advocacy.<\/p>\n

Another is Stella Artois\u2019 partnership with Water.org to end the global water crisis<\/a>. This partnership has already raised more than US$3 million in donations to bring almost a million people access to clean water<\/a>, according to a spokesperson from Water.org.<\/p>\n