Tag Archives: ethics

by | Tuesday, June 27, 2023 · 7:11 am

Culture Wars Impact Retailers

The world can be a tricky place for marketers and brands these days. Cultural differences can cause a big backlash when too many consumers take offense at certain topics that are endorsed by brands. It is a difficult balance that sometimes tips over to the negative.

Recently companies including Walt Disney, Anheuser-Busch, and Target have faced opposition to their support of the gay and trans communities. For example, June is Gay Pride Month and while many consumers and companies (such as Target, Walmart, Kohl’s, and JC Penney) fully support the issue, others may take an opposite view.

Target’s controversy relates to clothing, décor, and other Pride items which it was selling in support of gay and trans-gender rights. While the company has embraced the topic and products for a number of years, this year it went sideways. In some stores customers knocked down displays, threatened store employees, and posted on social media in opposition to the products.  

In response to the controversy, Target moved its Pride products away from the front of the store and pulled several products from sale, all in response to fears about employee safety. The response to Target’s move was disappointment from many consumers and organizations that supported gay rights.

How should we deal with sensitive issues?

 Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. This is a tricky topic for discussion, but one that bears examination by students.
  2. Discuss how companies can handle divisive topics.
  3. How should marketers balance messages to communities.
  4. Poll students: What are topics that are divisive and controversial? What examples have students seen?
  5. Show video about the issue at Target: https://youtu.be/AvfuoXga77Q
  6. Show Target’s website for Pride items: https://www.target.com/c/pride/-/N-5589f
  7. How should marketers address controversial topics?

Source: Nassauer, S. (25 May 2023). Target lands in culture-war crosshairs over pride month. Wall Street Journal; Reid, H. (31 May 2023). Target Pride backlash exposes ‘rainbow capitalism’ problem, designer says. Reuters New service.

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by | Thursday, June 22, 2023 · 7:07 am

 100% Recyclable Running Shoes Rented By Subscription Only

We all know that the world has a growing waste problem, partly due to the age of disposable clothing and fast fashion. Apparel and sportswear companies are working to reduce emissions and decrease the products going to landfill, but is it enough? In particular, athletic shoes tend to be made from a great many complicated components, meaning that it isn’t worth it to separate the individual parts for recycling.

For college students and athletes, a big portion of their budget goes to shoes. And, a big part of their closets are likely old and used shoes that are rarely worn any more. If their closets are like ours, they probably have at least six pairs, of which five pairs are very used and dirty and ready to be thrown away.

But what if we didn’t have to enlarge the waste dump? What if we could wear our running shoes until they are worn or dirty, and then just trade it them to be recycled and receive a shiny, clean, new pair?

Sounds complicated, but Swiss sportwear company “On” has a solution. It recently launched the Cloudneo running shoe as is a recycled premium running shoe – but it can’t be purchased, only rented.

For a monthly fee of $29.99, s Cloudneo is a subscription service for not only a performance running shoe, but a fully recyclable plant-based shoe! Castor beans are used as the base, and the shoe upper is sewn from a single piece of fabric to help reduce waste. The shoe contains only nine pieces of material compared to dozens of materials in most brands. And, since dye contaminates plastic, the Cloudneo is only available in white.

On is now shipping more than a million pairs of its Cloudneo athletic shoes each month, plus has added a growing line of sports clothing. The Cloudneo was supposed to launch in 2021, but was held up by the pandemic and supply chain issues. It has also added non-subscription shoes which are sold individually, but can be recycled. On is distributed through retail partners in more than 60 countries, plus direct-to-consumer.

Run, recycle, run again.

 Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss a subscription business model. Poll students: What subscription services do they use? Other services they can name? (Ex: meal kits, shave clubs, entertainment, etc.).
  2. Poll students: How many running or athletic pairs of shoes do you own? How long do they last? How much do you spend?
  3. How many pairs of athletic shoes do they have currently? What do you do with your old shoes?
  4. Show video about the company and its process.: https://youtu.be/tCH7lqkud8w
  5. Show On Running website: https://www.on-running.com/en-us/cyclon
  6. Who is the target market? Include demographics, psychographics, behaviors, values, attitudes, etc.
  7. Divide students into teams. Have each team come up with a promotional plan for Cloudneo.

Source: Ballard, E. (7 July 2022). The 100% recyclable running shoe that’s only available by subscription. Wall Street Journal.; Danziger, P. (4 April 2023). On, the $1 billion Swiss running-shoe company, declares Cyclon its sustainability incubator. Forbes.

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by | Thursday, April 20, 2023 · 7:46 am

No Card Needed: Pay at Panera using your Palm

Have you ever bought something only to realize you did not have your credit/debit card with you? Oops, how embarrassing. But that may be a problem of the past at Panera Bread (at least in St. Louis).

Panera Bread is now testing Amazon’s palm-screening technology at two of its St. Louis restaurants. This means that instead of using cash or charge, just place your palm on the scanner to pay for your meal – and connect to the Panera loyalty program. Panera has long been considered a leader in using technology in its restaurants with more than 2,000 locations and 52 million loyalty members.

While there has been consumer concern about palm-scanning, the positives are that it’s contactless and biometrics give a unique identifier for customers. No two palms (like fingerprints) are identical. Biometric data is also common for consumers who use face ID or fingerprint scanners. Palms provide yet another option.

Amazon’s palm-scanner technology is already being used at its Whole Foods stores in California as well as Amazon Go stores plus a handful of sports arenas such as T-Mobile Park.

How will you pay?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Poll students: Who has used face ID or fingerprint scanning? What has been their experience.
  2. Divide students into teams. Have each team list the positive and negative factors for using palm-screening for consumers? (Can do the same poll for Face ID as well.)
  3. What are the positive and negative factors for businesses?
  4. Show Amazon’s information page about the scanning: https://one.amazon.com/how-it-works
  5. Show video about Panera’s use of palm-scanning: https://youtu.be/7ZuYHXuesGA
  6. Also check the site for Amazon one locations in your geography. If there are any, consider having students shop at those locations to try the scanners and get their feedback.
  7. How should Panera explain and market the new scanning?
  8. Have each team develop three different promotional tactics to ease consumer fears about the technology use.

Source:  Panera Break tests Amazon’s palm-scanning technology in St. Louis. (22 March 2023). CNBC.; NPR; The Guardian; The Verge; other news sources.

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