Slacktivist Investing: How Corporate Activism Goes Wrong
Today, many major corporations spend just as much time telling you about the good they do in the world as they do pitching you products. Which sounds great, but … are these “ethical” companies actually making the world a better place? For all the talk of corporate responsibility, many companies’ actions don’t match their purported values.
Let’s consider some of the evidence. Maybe you’re passionate about social justice. So is the NBA. The league even allowed players to replace the names on their jerseys with activist slogans. But that concern doesn’t seem to extend to, for instance, China’s human rights issues. Maybe because the Chinese arm of the NBA was valued at $5 billion in 2019. That’s when a Houston Rockets executive simply tweeted “Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong.” The tweet was quickly deleted and led to an official apology from the NBA.
Maybe you’re passionate about empowering women. So were the folks at State Street, the financial services firm that erected the “fearless girl” statue on Wall Street. The sculpture was hailed in some quarters as a feminist triumph. One problem: The company erected the sculpture in the middle of a federal investigation for underpaying its female employees.
Maybe you’re passionate about gay rights. So is Amazon. In June of 2021, the company celebrated pride month by hoisting the pride flag above its Seattle headquarters. And in June of 2022, they celebrated by … removing LGBTQ products from their website in the United Arab Emirates — where the State Department warns that homosexuality can be punished by execution.
What about ESG investing? This type of investing — which stands for environmental, social, and corporate governance — is supposed to encourage sustainability and corporate citizenship. But research actually found that the firms in ESG funds had worse track records of complying with environmental and labor laws than those in non-ESG ones.
All of which points back to one point: It’s easy to *say* you’re in favor of some noble cause. It’s much harder to make the sacrifices necessary to actually live out your beliefs.
📝 SCRIPT
🎁 BONUS CONTENT
📚 SOURCES
AND MORE at https://www.kiteandkeymedia.com
The world is complicated … but the explanations don’t have to be. ⚡ New videos every Wednesday.
SUBSCRIBE to Kite & Key on YouTube:
https://bit.ly/YouTubeKiteAndKey
FOLLOW Kite & Key on your favorite social channel:
https://www.facebook.com/kiteandkeymedia
https://www.twitter.com/kiteandkeymedia
https://www.instagram.com/kiteandkeymedia
https://www.linkedin.com/compa....ny/kite-and-key-medi
Sound | Premium Beat: “Synthetic Orchestra” (Sound and Vision), “In Da Club” (Life Is An Epic Film), “We All Go Down" (Joseph), “Shades of Indigo” (Rex Chroma)
Footage | CNN // CNN Money // Bloomberg // NBC // NBA // New York Times // Reuters // U.S. Department of State // Twitter //SSRN // Sustainable Brands // Cision // Global Heroes // Harvard Business Review // Hollywood Reporter // Marketwatch // KC Green: Gunshow // Getty: Fotosearch / Stringer, Craig K, Pekic, Piotr Marcinski / EyeEm, Bettmann / Contributor, ZargonDesign, Kevin Dietsch / Staff, Justin Sullivan / Staff, Joe Raedle / Staff, Victor Metelskiy, Bonetta, Negoworks, Bluberries, Lily Lawrence / Stringer, Gregory Shamus / Staff, Alex Bierens de Haan / Stringer, Mike Ehrmann / Staff, Kevin C. Cox / Staff, Lintao Zhang / Staff, Zhong Zhi / Stringer, Tim Nwachukwu / Staff, Streeter Lecka / Staff, Feng Li / Staff, Rarrarorro, Monica Schipper / Stringer, Drew Angerer / Staff, David Ryder / Stringer, Helivideo, CommandoXphoto, Vichie81, Gian Lorenzo Ferretti Photography, Schroptschop, Westend61, Sebastain Kaulitzki, Ayala_studio, Peter Dazeley, ALotOfPeople, Rawpixel, Studiodav, Brent Durand // Unsplash: Anandu Vinod, Mockaroon, Logan Weaver | @LGNWVR, Annie Spratt, Wilhelm Gunkel, Kaleb Tapp, Max Kukurudziak, Michael Jasmund, Mackenzie Marco, Bagus Hernawan, Maxim Hopman, Lo Lo, Jouwen Wang, Anirudh, Behnam Norouzi, David Rodrigo, Sara Bakhshi, Oriol Hausmann, Malik Mccotter Jordan, Philip Martin, Made By Morro, Benjamin Rascoe, Ben Weber // Pexels: Ketut Subiyanto, Ryutaro Tsukata, Cottonbro, Karolina Grabowska, Pressmaster, Sora Shimazaki, Dinielle De Veyra, Werner Pfennig, Mart Production, Cordeiro Suekel // Flickr: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, James Vaughan // Vecteezy: Goff.brian, Graphics RF // Amazon // Ebay: Rosenjerom // Trade Union Unity Magazine // CITED SOURCES AND NEWS OUTLETS ARE NOT AFFILIATED WITH AND HAVE NOT ENDORSED OR SPONSORED ANY PORTION OF THIS PRODUCTION.
