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June 20, 2008
What’s wrong with this picture?: Huge profit opportunities
The headline of a flyer said,
- Global warming calamity. Huge profit opportunities.
Isn’t it telling how readily we accept the morality of profiting from disaster? I remember Aaron Brown commenting on CNN early into the Iraq war,
- To the victor go the spoils.
He was explaining why France had no right to hope for Iraqi contracts. My thought was - where did we get the idea that it’s acceptable to profit from war, disaster and misery?
Now, the investment opportunity in the flyer I mentioned is in planet friendly technology. I’m all for that. In fact, my socially responsible investments are doing just fine, and that makes me happy. I have no problem with this particular investment. I just wish the marketers had appealed to…and thereby promoted the value of…social responsibility rather than greed. Naomi Kline calls it “Disaster Capitalism.” I’ve seen similar disaster headlines used to promote destructive investments. Clearly these headlines work. The headline creates a jolt and leads to a conclusion that makes people’s eyes light up like dollar signs.
Let’s challenge the assumptions of this kind of marketing.
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