I’ve noticed this trend for a while now, companies almost apologizing for selling you a product you need or want, and attempting to make you and they feel better about that horrible act of capitalism by squealing about global warming or feeding the hungry.
John Stossel wrote something similar to this about “giving back” a little over a year ago.
From Dustin Stockton:
“When I’m buying a jacket, I’m not looking to save the world; I’m just looking for something well-made that will keep me warm for a fair price. No more, no less.
Take Patagonia, for instance. The company that makes outdoor apparel has, for the last several years, tried to market their apparel using an odd approach. They have cautioned Americans against living in excess and buying things we don’t need. An essay written on their website cautioning against the dangers of consumerism, entitled “Don’t Buy This Shirt Unless You Need It,” explains,
“We don’t have enough money, and we also don’t have enough time. We don’t have enough energy, solitude or peace. We are the world’s richest country, yet our quality of life ranks 14th in the world. As Eric Hoffer, a mid-20th century philosopher, put it, ‘You can never get enough of what you don’t really need to make you happy.’
And while we work harder and harder to get more of what we don’t need, we lay waste to the natural world.’…
Any person or nation can grow fatter and fatter, richer and richer, sleepwalking toward disaster. Or we can choose to remain lean and quick, wealthy in beauty and time and, that word that inspired our forefathers, wealthy in happiness.”
Alright, people on the site are looking for a means of staying warm outside, not for smug, holier-than-thou condescension that pretends to be above an honest exchange of goods for money. The company even goes so far as to call for a boycott of “Cyber Monday,” where deals can be seen all across the internet.
