Seth Godin Crosses The Line From Marketer to Social Activist...

I have long held the naive notion that influencers like marketers, teachers, military leaders, professors, historians, etc., have an obligation to be politically, socially and spiritually agnostic when it comes to performing their chosen profession. It appears as if Seth Godin today crossed the line from marketer to social activist. In a uncharacteristically frank and angry posting Seth states:

I don't believe that every product and every organization and every politician deserves world-class marketing or PR.

Hmmm.... so which organizations and politicians do deserve world class efforts? And who chooses the benefactors of the world class efforts?

This is part of an ongoing conversation we've been having here about political correctness and its effect on enterprise competitiveness.

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Comments

[Seth Godin]

Hi Mike

do cocaine dealers deserve the right to have billboards? child porn sites?

okay, we agree on the basic idea, the question is where to draw the line. Right?

thanks, as always, for reading.

[Mike Smock]

Hi Seth. So what side of the line does Wal-Mart fall on for you? Cocaine dealer side or Al Gore side?

[Seth Godin]

it's not up to me where walmart sits. Not one bit. It's up to the people who choose to portray their worker's rights story the way they did. Did they do it because they were proud of it, or did they do it because it was their job?

None of this is my department. Mine is just reminding people to be honest with themselves and to understand how slippery the slope is when you start "following orders."

[Mike Smock]

Hi Seth,

This is your department. You started this little rif with your comments on Edelman/Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart is an example of capitalism at it's best - warts and all. There are two primary views of Wal-Mart, if you're a capitalist it's a success story, if you're a social activist (socialist?), Wal-Mart is an example of exploitation and capitalist greed.

I think you've offered up a litmus test for marketers. Those who see Wal-Mart as good, and those who don't.

[Seth Godin]

Of course you're welcome to misread what I said in any way you want. I also said that some people believe that everyone should own a handgun. That doesn't mean I think they should.

I don't think Walmart is bad or good. It, like most things with impact, is a little bit of both. The Edelman thing has nothing to do with most criticisms of Walmart, though. It has to do with telling a story that even Walmart said wasn't true--they were censured by their own client for what they did, according to the post I linked to.

So, I'm happy to disagree with you about stuff, but I think you need to start by not reading stuff into what I'm writing that isn't there.

[Mike Smock]

Seth, I don't think I'm misreading anything.

I respect the right of Wal-Mart to defend itself. As I do any enterprise who's reputation may be under attack. And I believe that Wal-Mart and Ford, and Pepsi deserve access to world class marketing talent without an influential marketer like you trying to place some guilt rap on any marketer that may work for them.

Seems to me Seth the correct approach is for marketers to work as a team from the inside and change the behavior rather than beating a self-rightous retreat and leaving the field open to unethical marketers.

But my original point remains unanswered.

...which organizations and politicians do deserve world class efforts? And who chooses the benefactors of the world class efforts?