Corporate Social Responsibility

Hybrid Cars Greenwash Japan's Truck & SUV Sales

Submitted by John Stauber on

"As the Ford Motor Company scaled back expectations this week for its first hybrid-powered vehicle and backpedaled on a pledge to improve the fuel economy of its sport utility vehicles, Toyota was introducing its latest Prius, which will get about 55 miles a gallon and be the first midsize vehicle with hybrid technology. For environmentalists, the contrasting developments
reinforced the sense that only foreign carmakers care about

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Main Source: 
New York Times, April 19, 2003
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Environment

If You Take The Cash, You Gotta Learn To Love Us

Submitted by Laura Miller on

The CEO of the Business Council of Australia, Katie Leahy, citing Nike and McDonalds as examples, said that companies could be forgiven for wondering why they should make philanthropic contributions if they only became the subject of increased community criticism. "There is a concern among businesses that they don't necessarily receive the acknowledgment they think their efforts should bring them. ...

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Main Source: 
Sydney Morning Herald, March 18, 2003
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility

Desperate McDonald's Partners with Paul Newman

Submitted by John Stauber on

"In an effort to burnish its tarnished image on Wall Street
and Main Street, McDonald's has formed a partnership with ... Paul Newman. Mr. Newman ... has agreed to sell McDonald's a line of salad dressing,
similar to the bottled dressing made by his company,
Newman's Own. Under the same philanthropic principle that
guides Newman's Own, Mr. Newman said, all after-tax profits
from the deal will be given to charity. ... The partnership does give an aura of wholesomeness to
McDonald's and its food, said the food and science writer

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Main Source: 
New York Times, March 12, 2003
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility

Chilean Baritone Sings the Praises of British-American Tobacco

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Not everyone enjoyed "British-American Tobacco's Socially Responsible Smoke Screen," our article from the last issue of PR Watch that examined BAT's social reporting process. Eugenio Rengifo, a baritone with a Chilean band, emailed us a stinging letter, calling the article a "joke. Do you really believe in what you wrote about this?" But Eugenio the baritone didn't bother to inform us that he was also a PR executive with BAT's Chilean subsidiary.

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Main Source: 
http://www.prwatch.org/forum/showthread.php?postid=2682
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Tobacco

Trust Us, We're Corporations

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Integrity and good behavior based on "principles" are more important than rules of corporate governance, according to Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, the chief executive of Swiss-based foods giant Nestle (which recently demonstrated its commitment to "principles" by attempting to sue the famine-stricken nation of Ethiopia).

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Main Source: 
International Herald Tribune, January 28, 2003
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Ethics

Supreme Court Will Hear Kasky vs Nike On Corporate PR

Submitted by Laura Miller on

The US Supreme Court will rule in Nike vs. Kasky whether Nike's statements on the working conditions in its Asian factories are commercial speech and subject to truth-in-advertising laws. Nike appealed a May 2002 California Supreme Court decision that says when a corporation makes "factual representations about its own products or its own operations, it must speak truthfully." Nike says that the First Amendment protects its statements.

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Main Source: 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/01/11/MN1…
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility

Will 'Dolphin-Safe' Tuna Really Mean 'Dolphin-Dead'?

Submitted by John Stauber on

"Two former government scientists who
spent years investigating stress in dolphin populations
charged this week that superiors at their federally
financed laboratory shut down their research because it
clashed with policy goals of the Clinton and Bush
administrations. The scientists ... said their research indicated that the practice of chasing and encircling dolphins to catch tuna exposed the
dolphins to dangerous amounts of stress. The accusations, by Dr. Albert Myrick, a wildlife
biologist, and Dr. Sarka Southern, a research associate,

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Main Source: 
New York Times, January 9, 2003
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Animal Rights
Rhetoric

BAT Kills Millions, But in a Socially Responsible Manner

Submitted by John Stauber on

Bob Burton and Andy Rowell deconstruct the "social responsibility report" of British American Tobacco, the world's second largest tobacco company, in the latest PR Watch. Among their findings, "BAT's social report disclosed that three of its employees had been killed and 37 involved in serious accidents during 2001, but omitted any estimate of the number of people who had been killed or seriously affected by consuming its products. ...

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Main Source: 
http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2002Q4/bat.html
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Tobacco

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