Unilever's mayonaise brand Hellmann's uses buzzwords "real" and "local" foods in its current multimedia advertizing campaign. There are CSR, sustainability and marketing implications of this strategy relevant to a wider discussion of corpobligation.
Hellmann's Campaign calls consumers to join the "Real food movement": "As part of Hellmann's commitment to healthy and informed eating we believe that fresh, locally grown ingredients should be brought back to Canadian tables." Real is an interesting term to describe food, because the opposite would either be imaginary or fake food. Putting aside delicious imaginary delicacies s like manna or liger burgers (lion-tiger hybrids), Hellmann's is likely contrasting its ingredients to products that are full of artificial flavours and highly processed foods. This has potential to appeal to consumers trying to get back to basics.
Consumers are also concerned about local farmers and communities in a world of economic crisis. "Local" food labelling allows consumers to contribute to their community through everyday consumption. Hellmann's also encourage community and household gardens. But is Unilever a force for local food?
Corpobligation: Shared environmental commitments between packaging competitors can lead to change. Packaging creates waste but is essential for getting products to consumers. Can packaging producers be expected to minimize packaging?
The Carton Council includes Tetra Pak, Elopak, Evergreen
Packaging and SIG Combibloc
"We are very proud that the environmental impact of cartons already is
among the lowest in the packaging industry," said Ed Klein, executive
director of the Carton Council. "Cartons are source-reduced and made
primarily of paper, a renewable resource, from responsibly sourced,
well-managed forests. But we want to take our commitments to the next
level, and that's where significantly increasing recycling comes in."
Corpobligation: Clean energy at a price competitive with natural gas or even coal is the goal for google, according to Bill Weihl, Google's clean energy czar:
...there are a lot of computers out there — over a billion PCs around the
world. And there will be 2.5 billion in a few short years.
Individually, each one's like a light bulb. But add them all up, and
it's a lot of energy.
But one of the basic problems with carbon-neutral or very low-carbon
sources of energy is that it's expensive, particularly compared with
coal. I've spent three years trying to understand what technology is
out there, and the somewhat disturbing answer is, there are billions of
dollars going into clean tech, and lots of companies have interesting
generation technologies that in a small number of years hope to be at
grid-parity. But that means cost parity with natural gas, which is 8 or
9 or 10 cents per kilowatt hour. Coal is half or a third of that.
We've invested $45-million in startup companies. We also have a small
group of engineers doing our own internal R&D, free from the
constraints of, "We actually have to build a business and show our
investors a return in three years." … The goal is to think very big.
And if we're successful, we may actually make a significant return from
doing this. Because anybody who figures out how to produce clean energy
at scale and at a cost that competes well with coal is gonna make a lot
of money.
Corpobligation: At a time when the world is experiencing financial turmoil largely as a result of a runaway market and failed risk management strategies, President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address strikes a chord when he calls for a "new era of responsibility."
Does Obama's address signal a change in the United States government`s approach to regulation as a positive force for society?
Will corporate voices be heard in Washington lobbies? Stay tuned...
Corpobligation: In war zones, private military contactors face risks of death and now indictments for manslaughter.
"Victim shot with hands up" - Department of Justice Spokesperson
Individual Blackwater guards charged not the company
The five men are charged with 14 counts of manslaughter, as well as weapons violations and attempted manslaughte, for the events of September 16, 2007. One man has already pled guilty on one count of manslaughter.
The charges call into question the immunity agreements that the US provided to military contractors after the invasion of Iraq.
What effect will this have on attracting employees and investment overseas?
Corpobligation: Misleading ads can hurt not only the brand but distract from the efforts at improving sustainability.
Can civil society hold corporations accountable for greenwashing? If the current complaint against Nestlé Waters North America by Canadian environmental NGOs (Friends of the Earth Canada and Ecojustice
along with the Polaris Institute, the Council of Canadians, and
Wellington Water Watchers) succeeds, the answer will be yes!
The complaint cites a full-page advertisement that appeared in the
Globe and Mail in October, which contained a series of statements,
including that:
“most water bottles avoid landfill sites and are recycled”;
"bottled water is the most environmentally responsible consumer product in the world”; and,
“Nestlé Pure Life is a Healthy, Eco-Friendly Choice”.
The complaint is based on contraventions of the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards and new
guidelines that have been set by Canada’s Competition Bureau and the
Canadian Standards Association:
Corpobligation: Bottled water ban will reduce consumption and waste of plastic bottles. When your entire business flies in the face of rational resource consumption, what can a company do? Obfuscate, change, remedy damage...
London, Ontario Council banned plastic bottled water sales at several city owned buildings (18/08/2008), and the list will expand to all city owned properties, except during festivals.
Nestle seems to have decided to obfuscate about the benefits of
drinking fountains and has tried to avoid discussion of the wasted
energy inherent in plastic bottle, by instituting recycling plans. If
this works, then corporate social responsibility will be damaged.
Quote of the day: "Councillor Van Meerbergen: predicted Londoners won't let their kids drink from
public fountains that are exposed to things as vile as urine. 'Most families are not going to encourage their children to lap up water from public fountains,' he said."
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