Mara Einstein 
Compassion, Inc. [EPUB ebook] 
How Corporate America Blurs the Line between What We Buy, Who We Are, and Those We Help

Pink ribbons, red dresses, and greenwashing—American corporations are scrambling to tug at consumer heartstrings through cause-related marketing, corporate social responsibility, and ethical branding, tactics that can increase sales by as much as 74%. Harmless? Marketing insider Mara Einstein demonstrates in this penetrating analysis why the answer is a resounding ‘No!’ In Compassion, Inc. she outlines how cause-related marketing desensitizes the public by putting a pleasant face on complex problems. She takes us through the unseen ways in which large sums of consumer dollars go into corporate coffers rather than helping the less fortunate. She also discusses companies that truly do make the world a better place, and those that just pretend to.

Table of Content

Preface


1 Value Brands . . . They Ain’t What They Used to Be

2 How Corporations Co-Opt Caring: Strategic Philanthropy, Cause-Related Marketing, and Corporate Social Responsibility

3 The Birth of the Hypercharity and the Rise of ‘Charitainment’

4 The Consequences of Co-Opting Compassion

5 Shopping Is Not Philanthropy. Period.

6 Can Companies Make a Difference?

7 We Are Not Consumers


Notes

Index

About the author

Mara Einstein is Associate Professor of Media Studies at Queens College. She is the author of Brands of Faith: Marketing Religion in a Commercial Age. She has worked as a senior marketing executive in both broadcast and cable television as well as at major advertising agencies.