Don't disregard business sponsorship for the Black Lives Matter movement as a show of solidarity.
It could be a marketing gimmick. However, it is still substantial.
“If you remain neutral in the face of injustice, you have picked the oppressor's side. If you say you're neutral while an elephant's foot is on a mouse's tail, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
This phrase, or at least a portion of it, has been making the rounds on social media this week.
It was written by Desmond Tutu, a South African Anglican bishop, in his book Unexpected News: Reading the Bible with Third World Eyes, published in 1984. It so stems from Tutu's time as a strong opponent of South Africa's apartheid system, which granted only white people full citizenship rights.
Tutu's comment, however, has recently summarized many people's views about what's going on in the United States.
The assassination of George Floyd, who was apprehended on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill, by Minnesota police has become the latest flashpoint for outrage about systemic overpolicing and extrajudicial killings of African Americans.
But there's more to the protests that have engulfed millions of people across the United States and beyond. These demonstrations are also about institutional disparities that have recently seen America's poorest neighborhoods bear the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic's health and economic effects.
Given that the Black Lives Matter rallies are in part about American capitalism's shortcomings, the corporate world's response is worth discussing.
assisting brands
Many of the world's most well-known corporations have shown assistance through their marketing platforms. “To remain silent is to participate in the crime. Netflix wrote on Twitter, "Black lives matter." “We have a platform, and it is our responsibility to speak up on behalf of our Black members, employees, artists, and talent.”
Disney-owned Fox and Hulu have both sent out similar tweets. Apple Music took part in the "Black Out Tuesday" initiative to raise awareness about systemic ethnic disparity
With its "For Once, Don't Do It" commercial, Nike has repurposed its iconic slogan:
It is a relatively new occurrence for corporations to take a statement on social concerns. Waleed Aly, an Australian professor turned prominent TV host, said on his show The Project:
“Normally, if you are the CEO of a large corporation, you keep out of anything this divided and contentious. You don't want to be a part of it. I'm curious if this is simply an evolution in marketing and the way firms do things, or if it signals – if it signals a kind of leadership.”
“That's still significant,” Aly argued, even if these corporations are simply preserving their commercial base, as his co-host Steve Price indicated. I agree, and I'm a researcher in the field of corporate social responsibility.
It's easy to dismiss these utterances as politically correct wokism or low-cost tokenism. It's possible that each communication is the result of a calculated business choice, considering the costs and benefits.
However, my research – and those of others – reveals that what business academics refer to as "political corporate social responsibility," or PCSR, is becoming more important. For those that embrace it, the challenge is to talk the talk as well as live the walk.
CSR in politics
PCSR is the result of a larger paradigm shift in thinking about the societal responsibilities that private firms have. A classic position, popularized by Nobel Laureate and US economist Milton Friedman, holds that a company's main obligation is to maximize profits for its shareholders as long as it follows the law. There's nothing else.
However, since the 1950s, a growing movement – both inside and outside of business – has championed the cause of corporate social responsibility, saying that doing more than what is legally required to ameliorate social and environmental problems is good business.
Political CSR goes beyond CSR's traditional focus on how businesses interact with suppliers, customers, and local communities.
Last year, 181 US firms signed the US Business Roundtable's revised purpose of a corporation, which aspires to support "an economy that serves all Americans," including Apple, Deloitte, Fox, and Walmart.
According to a study released last month, about a third of customers say they buy businesses whose political and social beliefs fit with their own, while roughly a quarter say they boycott those that don't.
Nike's political journey
Nike has been a trailblazer in terms of leveraging marketing to promote social activities. Since the late 1980s, when it was the quintessential corporate exploiter of both third-world labor, including children, and poor communities in Western countries, the shoemaker has come a long
priced sneakers.
It entered PCSR in 2018, when it chose controversial American footballer Colin Kaepernick as the face of their 30th anniversary "Just Do It" campaign. In solidarity with Black Lives Matter, Kaepernick started the practice of NFL players kneeling during the national anthem before games. The kneelers were dubbed "disgraceful" by US President Donald Trump.
As a result, Nike's decision was not without danger. It also pulled a sneaker with an early American flag on Kaepernick's advice.
Nike has strived to foster equality within the company, maintaining wage equity for women and members of minority groups. It supports grassroots organizations like PeacePlayers, which aims to bring communities together through sport.
Going for a walk
PCSR has been adopted by a large number of other companies in support of Black Lives Matter. But it's merely the beginning of a long journey for corporate America to overcome allegations of tokenism. The focus on looting and violence at the cost of the much more common occurrence of nonviolent protest, as Waleed Aly pointed out on the same episode of The Project, has contributed to hide the underlying issue: “There are things state governments could be doing right now that they aren't.”
PCSR's goal is to close the "regulatory gaps" in social and environmental standards and norms. The failure to offer equal access to public goods like education, health care, and even clean air is one of the deficiencies in the US system that contributes to overpolicing of black neighborhoods.
Those that talk the PCSR talk will have to walk the walk and get serious about addressing why America's unique brand of free enterprise has failed to deliver on its promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all.
Desmond Tutu's phrase has stood the test of time as a universal truth. However, a well-known proverb is worth repeating.
Words are less effective than actions.
Bree Hurst is a Senior Lecturer at Queensland University of Technology's Business School.
The Conversation published this article first.
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