Do corporations have a responsibility to respond to the protests and issues? Or are we better off if they say nothing. Remember when Starbucks had its “Race Together” campaign, inviting customers to talk to their barristas about race, after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson?
How do you think corporations should respond to the George Floyd protests?
Quite a loaded question, in these unusual times.
For myself, I am a little sceptical when corporations respond to this kind of event. Rarely does the gesture have any ability to make a tangible difference to the problem. More often it can be seem as a hidden attempt to manage the bottom line - e.g. moving product launches back because most buyers are distracted by something else and the sales impact would be reduced.
As most corporate spin doctors would say: "sincerity.......yes, that would play really well".
I sometimes feel that the business execs who get their companies to dominate their categories are ruthless — Bezos, Musk, Murdock, the way Gates used to be. And if they aren't ruthless in the beginning, like Larry and Sergey, they become that way.
But...some seem human. Somehow I believe Tim Cook of Apple, Susan Wojcicki of YouTube, and maybe even Jack of Twitter are of good intent. Certainly what Jack is doing now is helping.
I just think brands like Nike are so powerful and influential, it's critical for the nation and for their business to be clear and unambiguous that they stand against racism. God knows we've shamed ourselves enough in the past by hating Japanese, Italians, Poles, Jews, Irish and, I don't know, 100 other nationalities and races. Who can forget the legacy of Henry Ford?
From Alex Ohanian.
I co-founded reddit 15 years ago to help people find community and a sense of belonging.
It is long overdue to do the right thing. I’m doing this for me, for my family, and for my country.
I’m saying this as a father who needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks: “What did you do?”
I've resigned as a member of the reddit board, I have urged them to fill my seat with a black candidate, + I will use future gains on my Reddit stock to serve the black community, chiefly to curb racial hate, and I’m starting with a pledge of $1M to Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp.
I believe resignation can actually be an act of leadership from people in power right now. To everyone fighting to fix our broken nation: do not stop.
Paul Ford, an author and CEO in a digital agency, had this to say:
And I agree. Companies should not seek to inject themselves into the conversation. Instead, if not just sitting this one out, they can amplify those whose voices should be heard, but usually are not. Omit branding, omit logos and messaging, amplify others.
