Friday, June 19, 2009

Are companies socially responsible?

Each and every company tries through advertising its products to be socially responsible. In other words they advertise in a way to improve society and to distribute information about their social programs and thus stimulate their target audience to respond in a positive way. When checking the web sites of big companies such as Mc. Donald’s, Avon, and Ben & Jerry’s I realized the efforts each company does in order to be socially responsible. For example, on Ben & Jerry’s web site we can clearly see their mission statement. Their mission consists of three interconnected parts which are product mission, economic mission, and social mission. So, they emphasize on the social part as well as the product and economic part. They believe that the company’s social mission is to improve the quality of life locally, nationally, and internationally. We can see on their web site the newest flavors and also news about the food supply. They try to inform their consumers that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is one step away from allowing meat and milk from cloned animals into the nation’s food supply. And they also show them that they believe this would be a step in the wrong direction. They also explain in details why they think this is a wrong step. So, this company is trying its best to be socially responsible in a way to improve the society.Also, when you enter Mc. Donald’s web site you see the efforts this company is trying to do to be socially responsible. First of all, we can see the facts about this company such as its commitment to the African-American community, Hispanic community, children, and to the community itself. Also, we can find a link to Ronald Mc Donald House charities. This link will take us to another web site that will show us many of the good deeds that this company has done. For example, in January 2007, Ronald McDonald House of Houston opened a House inside Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital. Therefore, this company used its web site to spread information about their several social programs and thus motivate their target audience to respond by eating in Mc. Donald’s more often. So, this company like Ben & Jerry’s is advertising in a way to help improve society.On the other hand, when we enter the Avon web site we cannot clearly see the efforts that this company is trying to do to be socially responsible. However, this does not mean that this company is not socially responsible but, it is not clear like in the two previous websites. While checking the site we can see a box on the lower end which has as a title “What are you doing to change the world?” Under this title we can see the several social programs that this company offers such as Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund, Avon Global Summit For A Better Tomorrow, and many more. When you press each social program you will directly be directed to another link that will explain more about each and every program in details. So, like the previous big companies, this company is also trying to put some effort to be socially responsible and help in improving society.

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