Corporate Social Responsibility

Disclosure May Derail Doctors' Gravy Train

by Bob Burton — June 28, 2007 - 4:54am

Medicines Australia, the drug industry's peak lobby group, has lost a legal bid to protect member companies from being required to disclose details of hospitality they provide at "educational" events for doctors.

Main Source: 
The Age (Melbourne), June 28, 2007

Spin Doctor for Gates Foundation

by Bob Burton — June 28, 2007 - 3:40am

Earlier this year, the investments held by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in companies which had adverse health and environmental impacts were scrutinised by the Los Angeles Times. The foundation, which aims to improve health and reduce extreme poverty, said they would review their investment policy, but then subsequently retreated.

Main Source: 
Seattle Times, June 19, 2007

BP Loses Australian Bid to Trademark Green

by Bob Burton — June 20, 2007 - 3:13am

BP advertisement from 2004The High Court of Australia has dismissed a bid by BP to have the green Pantone colour 348C used in its logo registered as its trademark.

Main Source: 
Australian Financial Review, June 15, 2007

Blessed Unrest for a Wiser Earth: John Stauber Interviews Paul Hawken

by John Stauber — June 19, 2007 - 10:11am
  • Topics: Corporate Campaigns, Activism, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Democracy, Environment, Social Justice

    • My first introduction to author Paul Hawken's work was his 1994 book The Ecology of Commerce. It is essential reading for anyone grappling with issues surrounding capitalism, social justice and ecological sustainability. Hawken is, among his plethora of accomplishments, a highly successful businessman, but The Ecology of Commerce pulled few punches in its criticism of even those companies truly trying to set and reach a higher standard of business social responsibility.

    I met Paul in person the first time in early 1999 over dinner in his hometown of Berkeley, California, some months before the now-legendary "battle of Seattle" protest, a world-changing event that catalyzed his thinking and eventually led to his newest book, Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming.

    The November 30, 1999, anti-corporate protests at the Seattle meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) became a global media moment, a highly visible but inaccurately reported coming out party for the movement Hawken documents and touts in Blessed Unrest.

    Nike's Social Irresponsibility

    by Diane Farsetta — June 8, 2007 - 3:58pm

    Nike says that its corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign is no longer just "a risk and reputation management tool," but a core "business objective." Labor rights activist Jeff Ballinger is skeptical.

    Main Source: 
    The Oregonian, June 3, 2007

    WWF Greenwashes Coca-Cola

    by John Stauber — June 5, 2007 - 10:24am

    As Ronald Reagan loved to remark, "There they go again." WWF, the corporate-funded environmental giant often accused of taking greenbacks in return for greenwashing its

    Main Source: 
    Environmental News Service, June 5, 2007

    Young, Reliable "Activists" Outed as Corporate Spooks

    by Bob Burton — May 28, 2007 - 7:38am

    The Happy Valley Coalition protests Solid Energy

    A private investigation company, Thompson & Clark Investigations, employed agents to infiltrate environmental, peace and animal rights groups in New Zealand, investigative journalist Nicky Hager has revealed.

    Main Source: 
    Sunday Star Times (New Zealand), May 27, 2007

    Crisis Management "Gold Standard" Actually Tinny

    by Diane Farsetta — May 24, 2007 - 5:22pm

    As many speeches, magazines and books have done previously, the current issue of Fortune magazine calls Johnson & Johnson's (J&J's) response to the 1982 Tylenol capsule poisoning deaths "the gold standard in crisis control." O'Dwyer's PR Daily writes that "the Tylenol story, as commonly told, is a '

    Main Source: 
    O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), May 22, 2007

    Greenwashing, or "Positioning Environmentalism"

    by Diane Farsetta — May 15, 2007 - 2:32pm

    In public relations, "the most striking single thing is the rapid growth in which companies are positioning or repositioning their environmentalism," said Burson-Marsteller's managing director of corporate responsibility.

    Main Source: 
    Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia), May 13, 2007
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