Greenwashing

Many consumers — and investors — are attracted to companies and products that prioritize products that minimize ecological harms. Corporate marketing that makes empty eco-promises is so common that there’s a name for it: Greenwashing. A Wall Street Journal video.

Update:

“‘A sea of misinformation’: FTC to address industry greenwashing complaints,” Tom Perkins, The Guardian

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Cinco de Mayo, fiesta grande en los Estados Unidos

Cinco de Mayo, the 5th of May, is the biggest Mexican holiday in the entire United States. Oh sure, the holiday commemorates the 1862 Battle of Puebla, so kids in that Mexican city get the day off to watch a parade, and gringo-infested beach resorts may get a little loco, but the rest of Mexico carries on as usual.

North of the border, it’s a different story. The community-based Mexican-American celebrations of the Sixties were co-opted by marketers for big brewers, tequila importers, and mega-food purveyors. In other words, it’s St. Patrick’s Day with mariachis. Is this a great country, or what?

More:

“Cinco de Mayo: A History Obscured by Beers and Burritos,” Jason Ruiz, Long Beach Post

“U.S. Marketers Turn Cinco de Mayo Into Pan-Ethnic National Celebration, Joel Millman, Wall Street Journal

“How Corona Made Cinco de Mayo an American Holiday,” Adam Teeter, VinePair 

“Does Mexico Celebrate Cinco De Mayo? Find Out How Holiday Became Mainstream,” Susmita Baral, Latin Times

“Mexicans don’t understand why you are celebrating Cinco de Mayo,” Allison Jackson, GlobalPost

“Why is Cinco de Mayo More Popular in America Than in Mexico?” Brian Greene, U.S. News & World Report

“Gringo de Mayo,” Gustavo Arellano, OC Weekly

“Cinco de Mayo: A New American Holiday,” Cesar M. Melgoza,Huffington Post

“Cinco De Mayo: Whose Holiday Is It, Anyway?” NPR

“How Not to Be Awful This Cinco de Mayo,” Kelly Williams Brown,Daily Beast

 

Note: ¿Chilaquiles? Mira aquí.

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Why You Won’t See a Tesla Commercial

You won’t See a Tesla commercial on TV. Celebrities and influencers (including Elon Musk) do the work of ads for free. The company puts money into research and development instead of PR. A Newsthink video by Cindy Pom.

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Fighting Germs With Advertising

In the early 20th century, when advertisers weren’t selling Americans radioactive beauty products, they signed up for the war against germs. A National Geographic video.

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Breakfast: the most important myth of the day

Breakfast became “The Most Important Meal of the Day” when cereal companies stood to make a buck from it. A Vox video by Ranjani Chakraborty.

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How to Sell a Million Dollar Work of Art

How do you sell (very) strange artwork for millions of dollars? Dion Lee explains.

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Marketing to Doctors

A while back, John Oliver explained how Big Pharma markets to doctors so they’ll prescribe brand name drugs to patients. As we face another year of corporate deregulation and health care uncertainty, it bears another look:

Ivanka Adds Book-Like Object to Product Line

Ivanka Trump isn’t just the Official White House Lifestyle Guru, she’s a favorite POTUS daughter, multimillionaire wife, nanny-hiring mother, former model, and retail brand! On May 2nd, Ivanka Inc. released a compilation of mis-applied quotations and alleged career advice for women called Women Who Work. This handsome volume would look absolutely fabulous on a Trump Home by Dorya Cocktail Table.

By a strange coincidence, “Women Who Work” is the marketing slogan for Ivanka Trump clothing, jewelry, and accessories. And talk about your coincidences, around the time of the book release Ms. Trump took a high-profile jaunt to Europe, was profiled in the New York Times, chatted in the West Wing with “CBS This Morning,” and appeared with SBA chief Linda McMahon at the U.S. Institute of Peace. It’s not a government-enabled book tour, though. Of course not.

Another coincidence: The State Department tweeted a photo promoting Women Who Work.

But what do the critics say about Women Who Work?

Uncle Sam Wants You — To Drink More Milk

Got Milk? Why?

“New evidence also shows that drinking lots of milk doesn’t protect against bone fractures and may be linked to certain types of cancer. And all the good stuff in milk — calcium, potassium, and protein — can be found in greater amounts in foods like broccoli, kale, and black beans.

 But these foods are at a disadvantage when it comes to competing against dairy. They don’t have trade groups giving millions to members of Congress and lobbying for influence over the nation’s nutrition policy.”

— “How big government helps big dairy sell milk,” Liz Scheltens and Gina Barton, Vox

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The Golden McNugget of Japan

The culture of Japan, full of mystery. The Tea Ceremony. Zen Buddhism. Hello Kitty. And now an 18-karat gold Chicken McNugget.

To mark introduction of two new dipping sauces, Fruit Curry and Creamy Cheese, McDonald’s Japan is giving away a solid-gold Chicken McNugget weighing 50 grams (1.8 ounces), worth about $1500. Clues are being dropped on Twitter.

More:

“McDonald’s Japan Is Giving Away a Gold Chicken Nugget,” Elizabeth Licata, The Daily Meal