Audeamus

What they aren't telling you

Filed in archive CSR on June 18, 2007

What they aren't telling you
Corporate Social Responsibility isn't just about green practices or doing something good for the environment and society. I also believe that businesses and organizations have a social responsibility to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.


With emphasis on The Whole Truth

On Money Talks with Stacy Johnson, he pointed out that gasoline is named to lead the public into believing one kind of gas is better for their car than another, when this is not the case.

Back in the 90's, the FTC stopped gas companies from advertising that "premium" provides added benefits to your car, but people today still believe this to be true. The fact of the matter is, gas is gas, and whatever octane is recommended in your owner's manual is the octane you should use. It's more of a choice between A, B, and C - and on this multiple choice test, the correct answer is in your owner's manual.

An exercise in word choice

For the most part, I only watch international news because I have found the word choice in American news broadcasts to be very biased, with implied connotations that create fear. Once such example comes from a recent BBC news broadcast.

In America, we say "alcoholic." In England, they call them a "dependent drinker." Do you notice a difference in your immediate gut response? "Alcoholic" implies that this is a problem person, "dependent drinker" implies that this is a person with a problem.

So why is this important?

Companies and governments around the world spend billions of dollars researching responses to word choice. Whether it conveys the truth or not, they will use whatever words that will get the response they want from you. Don't believe everything you read, see, or hear at face value - be ready with a set of your own questions, seek to know the facts, know what is important to you and why, then make a buying decision.

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Tags: truth  word  choice  CSR  advertising  social  social+enterprise  social+entrepreneurship 

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