Hey Reader,

There's a lot going on right now. When there's a dozen new headlines every few hours, it can be hard to keep track of what's important. That's just a fact of life. The human brain only has so much space and, whether consciously or unconsciously, will dump old information to make room for new stuff. It's human nature. It's also one of the best tools in a propagandizer's tool belt.

Before I get into it, I've lost some subscribers over the last few weeks. That's not surprising, people come and go, but it's left me craving more! If you like this newsletter, send it to someone else who might like it! Or don't. I'm not your dad.

A Podcast That Turned Me (RED) With Anger

The podcast was actually really good and you should listen to it. The show is called American Hysteria and the episode in question featured Dr. Mara Einstein. "The Corporate Takeover of Caring with Dr. Mara Einstein" broke down what is, as a public relations guy, the bane of my existence. Einstein walks listeners through a few examples of "cause marketing." For those unfamiliar, "cause marketing" is when a business strategically supports a cause by partnering with (usually) a nonprofit or similar entity to increase sales. The quintessential example is McDonald's and their "round up for the Ronald McDonald House" program.

Cause marketing is an incredibly effective way to earn good will from your consumer base. Unfortunately, it is not an incredibly effective way to actually impact causes. Unbeknownst to most, it is also an incredible way to earn a tax write off, which is why most large corporations (McDonald's) do it. The reality is that most cause marketing is used for one, or a combination of, three reasons:

1. To earn good will in the market.
2. To increase sales and generate revenue.
3. To distract from or "repent for" large mistakes.

Typically, "raising money for a cause" ranks incredibly low on the list of pros for marketers, if it's on the list at all. Now I don't want to deny that cause marketing campaigns do benefit the causes or nonprofits they're supporting, but they don't do so with the impact they portray.

The example that Dr. Mara Einstein gave in American Hysteria that broke me was the 2006 campaign, Product Red. I, like many other exceptionally cool middle schoolers in 2006, had a Product Red iPod Nano. It looked like this and it was awesome.

The concept behind Product Red was simple: partnered businesses created specific products with the Product Red branding and up to 50% of the profits would go to ending the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. But that phrase "up to" did a lot of heavy lifting. For instance, Starbucks donated only $1 per Product Red-associated transaction. In the first three years of the campaign, Product Red donated $135 million to the Global Fund, but that only accounted for a small fraction of the revenue generated by the project.

But damn if that red iPod wasn't slick.

It Gets Worse

You've likely heard of phrases like "Greenwashing" or "Pinkwashing." Incase you haven't, both phrases are used to describe the act of a business shrouding their realities by manipulating public perception. "Greenwashing" is used when a business emphasizes environmentally friendly points in their communication. "Pinkwashing" is that but with feminism instead of environmentalism.

I'm certain you've seen examples of both in the wild. I specifically remember a time when there were Bic disposable razors and Bic disposable razors for women side by side on shelves in every store. The only difference was that the women's razors were pink. Another upsetting example is brought to you by literally every fossil fuel company under the sun. Here's an article from the Guardian about deceptive advertising in the oil industry. Warning: reading that article will make you sad. Long story short, oil companies love to advertise their climate pledges and environmental efforts, even when they don't prioritize them in the day to day. In 2019, ClientEarth lodged a complaint against BP alleging that BP’s advertising campaigns had misled the public by focusing on the company’s low carbon energy products, when more than 96% of its annual spend was on oil and gas. BP withdrew the ads before the complaint was assessed.

Propaganda And What This Means For You

I'm hoping that this brief overview on cause marketing makes its potential use as a propaganda tool clear to you. The point that is most important is number 3 from the list above: cause marketing is used to distract from or "repent for" large mistakes. The example in this newsletter came from an oil company, but look me in the eye and tell me you haven't noticed this come from anywhere else. The goal of propaganda is to move forward one's own stance or belief, but when it can't accomplish that goal, the next best thing propaganda can do is shift attention. Like the annoying table magician who used to do card tricks at my college bar, good propaganda will have you looking at the left hand when you should be looking at the right.

Prolonged exposure to distractive propaganda has a real, tangible outcome: whataboutism. If this is the first time you're hearing about "whataboutism," can I come live under your rock? Whataboutism is a deflection tactic used by individuals to change the subject of conversation. For instance:

Whataboutism is a side effect of propaganda. It's like propaganda disease. Whataboutism is propaganda of the mouth. Cause market hard enough and no one will ever complain about you again.

-MC

p.s.

• Dr. Mara Einstein has her own podcast about this topic called Hoodwinked. I haven't listened to it yet, but it looks rad.
• If someone forwarded you this email and you liked it, subscribe to this newsletter!

Customer loyalty programs are good and you should have one! Also, if you give me free stuff, I'll probably make a video about it. Watch the video

One final word on bad marketing killing a thing I love I'll never forget you, Highguard. Watch the video

TikTok's new AI feature that everyone hates Why do companies keep doing this?? Watch the video

Big shout out to the fine folks at the Zak Davis Memorial Fishing Foundation! We finished the overhaul of their website this week and they're getting ready to announce their annual fundraiser for 2026. Check out the changes here.

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