Poverty as a Unique Selling Point
The world isn’t that much better since Toms started the One-for-One business model in 2006.
Last week I ran into a Starbucks to get an iced soy latte. I was sort of hungry but didn’t want to eat anything too heavy and ruin my appetite for dinner. At the cash register was a delicious-looking bar with marketing that caught my eye.
“This Saves Lives,” stood out like a shiny object. It looked almost identical to its sister snack, KIND Bar. But it emoted something different than a KIND bar. I don’t just want to be kind, I want to save lives! I grabbed the bar and bought it. I needed to examine further exactly how — and whose — lives this bar was saving. I wanted to learn more about the company that had the audacity to say it was saving lives.
These companies are like the woke-white dude you meet at the bar at 2 am. They marched and protested for #BLM with their girlfriends and they’re all about women’s rights. Heck, they even love AOC, but probably couldn’t tell you what her role in the US government actually is. They’re shiny and sexy on the outside, luring you in to think they actually give a fuck about issues that don’t impact them. But in reality these dudes — err companies — are just here to promote their image and their accessible, world-changing products.
