But What About the Buyer?

:
A conversation on Inger Stole's "Philanthropy as Public Relations"
Dorothy J. Burk
Imagine an executive at a major American credit card company is looking for an innovative way to
entice consumers. If the traditional marketing options, such as direct-mail and TV/radio ads, have lost
their pizazz, what can be done? One solution that has emerged in the last thirty years is to employ cause
marketing, or the selling of goods to consumers based on altruistic incentives. Cause marketing promises
that the company will donate X amount to a charitable organization when the consumer purchases a
certain product or service. Inger Stole has criticized this model, charging that the payoff for big business
is exponential, while the actual gains of the non-profit are quite small, or even negative. In this paper I
adopt Stole's overall position, while arguing that a further development of her thesis is necessary in order
to understand the economic and social pressures that have contributed to the wide-spread popularity of
cause marketing. I also suggest strategies that non-profits might adopt to eliminate potentially harmful
partnerships with big business.
The crux of Stole's (2009) argument against cause marketing is that big corporations exploit the
neediness of non-profits to improve their own image, and to conceal their role in contributing to the
problems which they publicly purport to be crusading against (p. 427). The sale of 'pink ribbon' products
during Breast Cancer Awareness month is a prime example of cause marketing; businesses in almost all
sectors of the economy participate with the stated goal of contributing to the Susan G. Komen
Foundation. The curious consumer might find themselves wondering just how much of their purchase
even goes to the Komen Foundation, and they would be right in their curiosity: even if 10% of the profit
on the sale of a CD is donated, the big business 'sponsor' has made huge gains which the Komen
Foundation will never receive (Stole, 2009, pp. 427-9). There are additional questions about how medical

research is indirectly shaped by business when it is funded by the non-profits that have received
significant contributions from business partnerships, but that is outside the scope of this paper.
Stole ingeniously points out that big businesses are often concealing their own ill-doings with
philanthropy. Arguably, deodorant partnerships with the Komen Foundation are a good example of this,
as some studies have found that deodorant may contribute to the likelihood of early-onset breast cancer.
While she points out this contradiction as a deception on the part of the corporation, Stole fails to
address the issue of how this deception is condoned, and even enjoyed, by the consumer. Stole insists
that many consumers do not necessarily believe the cause marketing claims of companies, but she does
not provide any evidence that this disbelief affects spending habits. Slavoj Zizek's (1999) work on
ideology, especially "The Spectre of Ideology," contributes to this situation the comment that the
consumer actively supports this system of cause marketing because it enable them to 'act without acting',
or to acknowledge and 'fix' a problem without really acknowledging or addressing the root of the
problem ( pp. 58-9).
Historical surveys of post-Ford capitalism can also contribute to Stole's discussion an economic
analysis, which is absent from her essay. In his book on postmodernity, David Harvey (1990) wrote on
the role of "commodification of cultural forms" and "the artifices of need inducement" that have
become a necessary corollary of business since the 1970s (p. 156). The idea that the inducement to 'need'
something has developed a strongly social angle in the last forty years supports Stole's assertion that
buying goods from charitable businesses does make some consumers feel satisfied; extending her
argument into more economic terms works to reveal some of the larger motivating forces behind cause
marketing. So it is not just, as Stole argues, that this is an efficient way for businesses to promote
themselves; it is also socially and culturally desirable and enjoyable.
A deep analysis of cause marketing leaves a certain sense of pessimism for smaller, 'not
corporately viable' non-profits, who are both excluded from this field of fundraising and are wary of

being involved with big business in the first place. Viable options for non-profits who find themselves
financially strapped are absent in Stole's essay, but are necessary if small organizations hope to excel
outside the cause marketing model. Several non-profits are already utilizing fundraising models that work
well without big business participation. Perhaps the most readily identifiable organization in the U.S. is
the Girl Scouts, who sell cookies yearly in order to raise funds. Non-profits might also look at the model
of Los Angeles based Homeboy Industries, led by Father Greg Boyle. Homeboy was founded to keep
gang members and recent parolees off the streets by offering them work. Homeboy runs very successful
bakeries, cafes, print and screen-printing shops in L.A. County that directly tackle poverty and prison
recidivism without relying on large corporations (Homeboy Industries, 2008).
In the end of her essay, Stole (2009) wrote that big businesses "[transform] the generosity,
compassion and charitable inclinations of Americans into...branding strategy" (p. 436). Whether or not
Americans actually possess the degree of compassion that she attributes to them, it is certain that they are
diligent consumers. Given the nature of American consumerism, non-profits would be well served by
focusing both on understanding the economic conditions that have led to the proliferation of cause
marketing and finding positive, self-sustaining ways to harness the power of the consumer. Bringing these
elements of analysis and action to bear on Inger Stole's essay extends her relevance, and ultimately
suggests a solution to the troubling issues surrounding corporate philanthropy.

Works Cited
Harvey, D. (1990). The Condition of Postmodernity. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
Homebody Industries. (2008). History. Retrieved from http://www.homeboy-industries.org/history.php
Stole, I. (2009). Philanthropy as Public Relations: A Critical Perspective on Cause Marketing. In B.E.
Duffy and J. Turrow (Eds.) Key Reading in Media Today: Mass Communication in
Context. (pp. 426-440). New York: Routledge.
Zizek, S. (1999). The Spectre of Ideology. In E. and E. Wright (Eds.) The Zizek Reader. Malden, MA:
Blackwell Publishers.