Cause Marketing or Consumption Philanthropy or ?

The Stanford Social Innovation Review has an interesting, timely article "The Hidden Costs of Cause Marketing":

"From pink ribbons to Product Red, cause marketing adroitly serves two masters, earning profits for corporations while raising funds for charities. Yet the short-term benefits of cause marketing—also known as consumption philanthropy—belie its long-term costs. These hidden costs include individualizing solutions to collective problems; replacing virtuous action with mindless buying; and hiding how markets create many social problems in the first place. Consumption philanthropy is therefore unsuited to create real social change."

The article, by Angela M. Eikenberry, assistant professor in the School of Public Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, includes cited statistics, a list of references, and posted comments from readers.

The article was made available through Stanford knowledgebase, an email newsletter from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.