It is so weird that we have created an environment where people want their products to appeal to their political bent. Where did we go wrong when we could buy a product and not have a political message behind it. I just want to buy some soap or chocolate, but i don't want to know what you do here or there or have a guilt trip about your products history.
The internet gives us the ability to communicate directly with companies. It also gives small companies the opportunity to sell "their story" directly to consumers and not have to deal with the usual retailers and distributors that previously gated access to buyers.
So makes sense that folks can now decide where to spend their money based on the "Story" of a company. I do this all the time when I look for authenticity, honesty, veteran supporting, and at least an attempt at US based production because those are values I have and want to support. Easy to be deceived though, as there are lots of folks that put up a web page with a sob story while they just order stuff from a chinese "mix and match" manufacturer and slap it in a fancy box and a 1000% mark-up.
So I get that the big anonymous corps want in on the action and hire marketers that try to drum up a similar feeling, as if Dove, with its masses of bureaucrats and stock holders, somehow gives a shit about "a cause" in the way a girl making bath bombs in her garage to raise money for her moms cancer treatments does.
I hear rumors that banks are driving this kinda virtue signalling stuff by giving preferential lending rates to companies that score better on some checklist. So Dove has to eat a campaign like this to "earn" a concession elsewhere. Not sure if that is true, or if it's just the circles the C-suite folks move through is more susceptible to this type of pressure on a personal level even if it affects their bottom line in the short term.
