Compassion, Inc.

Pink ribbons, red dresses, and greenwashing--these are some of today's most powerful marketing tools for selling everything from jeans to Coke to cars. With the pressure to differentiate commodities and increase sales a constant reality, American corporations are scrambling to tug at consumer heartstrings through cause-related marketing, corporate social responsibility, and ethical branding, tactics that can increase sales by as much as 74%. Harmless? Marketing insider Mara Einstein demonstrates in this penetrating analysis of connecting charity to consumerism why the answer is a resounding "No!" Compassion, Inc.is an incisive analysis of the corporate takeover of caring and the price we pay as individuals and as a society for ceding charitable works to the marketplace. Einstein clearly outlines how cause-related marketing desensitizes the public by putting a pleasant face on complex problems and takes us through the unseen ways in which large sums of consumer dollars go into corporate coffers rather than helping the less fortunate. She also discusses companies that truly do make the world a better place, and those that just pretend to. Refreshingly direct and timely, Compassion, Inc.explores the nuances of an issue whose implications permeate public and private life.