Corporate Social Responsibility

Wikis Prove Tricky for PR Firms

Thanks to WikiScanner, more PR firms are coming under fire for making anonymous edits to Wikipedia that favored their clients. "Freud Communications' London office was caught making edits" on articles about Pizza Hut and Carphone Warehouse, reports PR Week.

Fake Green Certification Backfires

The Australian supermarket company Woolworths has withdrawn a range of tissue products after being outed by an anonymous blogger for using a "Sustainable Forest Fibre" logo on products sourced from a notorious Indonesian forestry company.

Beyond Petroleum, But Still Big on Ammonia and Soot

The oil and energy company BP recently received "a permit from the state of Indiana to dump more toxic discharges from its Whiting, Ind., refinery into Lake Michigan," reports Advertising Age. The permit, "which allows BP to dump 54% more ammonia and 35% more suspended solids" in the Great Lake, has "enraged" Chicago officials.

Rendition Lawsuit Against Boeing Subsidiary Grows

A lawsuit against airservices company Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., has been re-filed to include two more victims of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's extraordinary rendition program. In December 2002, Bisher al-Rawi was kidnapped from Gambia and flown to a secret U.S. prison in Afghanistan and then the Bagram airbase.

McDonald's Advised to Fight or Fess Up

McDonald's has been criticized by PR professionals for its response to the recent study by Stanford University School of Medicine and the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital which found that young children preferred foods associated with the company's packagi

McCarrott's?

A survey of the impact of marketing on children's taste preferences has revealed the power of McDonald's. Sixty-three preschoolers from low-income families in California were presented with five samples of identical foods and beverages, one in McDonald's packaging and the other in unbranded packaging. They were then asked "to indicate if they tasted the same or if one tasted better." The results?

Starbucks' CSR Not Worth a Hill of Beans

On August 6, "when opening statements are set to begin in the trial over Starbucks' anti-union operation, in some ways corporate social responsibility itself will be on trial," writes Daniel Gross.

Grrrrrreenwash

The New South Wales Greens have complained to the Australian corporate regulator that Saab's "Grrrrrreen" advertising campaign makes deceptive claims and is greenwashing.

Solid Spoof

The New Zealand Government-owned coal mining company, Solid Energy, has had only a limited win with the legal action it launched over a spoof corporate social responsibility

Green as in Money

The UK Telegraph notes that "it is not just politicians and rock stars who are trying to persuade people to reduce their carbon footprint. Banks, lenders and fund managers are dreaming up ethical options for environmentally aware customers. ... The question is whether these products really make a difference, or whether it is simply a case of providers jumping on the green bandwagon. ...

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