[Mb-civic] Selling out or buying in? - Dara O'Rourke - Boston Globe Op-Ed

[William Swiggard]

  Selling out or buying in?

By Dara O'Rourke  |  April 5, 2006  |  The Boston Globe

FIRST MY socially responsible ice cream. Then my local, earth-conscious 
juice. Then my hip, alternative, throwback sneakers. Then my daughter's 
organic yogurt. Then my wife's animal-friendly cosmetics. Now it's the 
one toothpaste I believed in . . . if it makes any sense to believe in a 
toothpaste.

Ben and Jerry's was bought out by Unilever. Fresh Samantha was devoured 
by Odwalla, itself owned by Coca-Cola. Converse by Nike. Stonyfield 
Farms by Danone. Aveda by Estee Lauder. The Body Shop by L'Oreal. Now 
Tom's of Maine sells out, is bought out, is merged in, or, if you 
believe the founder, is to be a ''stand-alone subsidiary" of 
Colgate-Palmolive.

Many of the products we think of as ''alternative" or ''natural" or 
''socially responsible" or just plain ''independent" are now owned by 
major multinational corporations. Perhaps this is good? A sign that 
mainstream America cares and wants to buy these kinds of products? Tom 
Chappell, cofounder of Tom's of Maine, calls it an irony that ''although 
we are growing in the high teens and low 20s, it's not enough to meet a 
demand 10 times the size." Tom goes on to explain that, ''about 25 
percent of Americans are interested in these kinds of products."

So as Tom wants us to believe, this selling-out isn't about cashing in, 
it's about reaching the masses through those elusive retail channels 
only a multinational corporation can access.

And maybe this is good news for environmentally and socially responsible 
products. A sign that Main Street and Wall Street are finally buying 
into companies that do well by doing good. Certainly this reminds us 
that global corporations have the potential to spread phthalate-free 
perfumes and organic juices just as fast as they spread Marlboros and Coke.

And maybe these multinationals will even adopt some of the principles 
and practices that made Tom's grow so fast and turned Ben and Jerry and 
Body Shop owner Anita Roddick into trusted names. Imagine if L'Oreal 
followed the Body Shop's lead and stopped animal testing and phased out 
the most toxic chemicals they slip into their face creams. Or if 
Coca-Cola listened to Odwalla's mission statement and committed to 
nourishing people and caring for the earth. Or if Unilever copied Ben 
and Jerry's old policy on limiting CEO salaries.

This could be good.

Unfortunately, we have seen little evidence of this sweet organic cream 
rising to the top of the global milkshake.

In fact, these brands seem a little embarrassed of their new adoptive 
parents. Tom says simply that packaging will not identify his company as 
a subsidiary of Colgate. Which makes me wonder how many hipsters know 
that their Converse All-Stars and their Hurley skateboard hoodies are 
produced by Nike? Or that their Odwalla Wellness Fruit Drink with 
Echinacea is manufactured by Coke?

This stealth relationship is a sign that while these multinationals 
covet progressive brands, they are at least a little nervous about 
losing the trust and connections these small companies have built with 
consumers. These global buy-outs will certainly move Tom's into the 
mainstream, but it will also connect these small firms to big global 
controversies. The Body Shop is being boycotted in England for the sins 
of L'Oreal. Converse is being criticized by anti-sweatshop activists. 
Odwalla has been included in campus boycotts against Coke.

These new relationships also connect these firms to demands for even 
faster growth. Tom is no longer really of Maine. He is now of Wall 
Street. And 20 percent growth may just not be enough. Will he now feel 
pressures to put profits before people and the environment? Will he stop 
doing the things that made me like him in the first place -- like 
putting natural ingredients in his toothpastes and calling out big 
companies like Colgate for putting saccharin in theirs?

Ultimately these deals threaten the one thing that really made these 
companies special -- that consumers believed in their values. As 
subsidiaries of major multinational firms, they will no longer be given 
the benefit of the doubt about what these companies stand for, what they 
believe in, what they are trying to achieve. They now have to prove that 
they are not just selling out. They have to be much more transparent and 
back up their social and environmental claims. And they have to show 
that they are improving their parent companies rather than being abused 
by them.

Maybe I shouldn't have ever believed in a toothpaste or a shampoo or an 
ice cream. I now realize I didn't really know that much about Tom or 
Anita or Ben anyway. And I will now ask a lot more before I trust or 
believe in them again.

Dara O'Rourke is an assistant professor in the College of Natural 
Resources at the University of California, Berkeley.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/04/05/selling_out_or_buying_in/
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