• Explain theories and concepts covered in the course readings that are relevant to the analysis of cause-related marketing (CRM) and ‘Brand Aid’
• Apply concepts and theories from the course to analyse how CRM and Brand Aid initiatives are implemented in practice
• Critically evaluate these theories, their application and limitations in relation to explaining the effects of CRM and Brand Aid initiatives on consumers, NGOs, celebrities, corporations and the putative beneficiaries of the causes embedded in these initiatives.

What links a handmade necklace of paper beads with a pair of Emporio Armani (RED) sunglasses or a pack of disposable diapers with a pink BMW luxury car?  Belonging in the time of neoliberalism shapes our politics and our purchases.  ‘Beads For Life’ are certified by Martha Stewart as ‘eradicating poverty one bead at a time.’  Bono assures us that a percentage of the profits of all (RED) co-branded products goes directly to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria.  The voice of Salma Hayek, famous Mexican-American actress, informs consumers that ‘one pack of pampers=one lifesaving vaccine’; and the cast of the hit tv series ‘Friends’ tours in support of BMWs ultimate drive to raise money to fight breast cancer.

All of these products are sold through cause-related marketing (CRM) initiatives – targeting ‘causumers’ who want to shop for a better world. ‘Ethical’ products are sold by marketing certain values.  But as globalization shifts traditional boundaries of production and exchange, new understandings are needed about what constitutes a better product, a better world or a more ‘ethical’ consumer.

Ethical consumption is one of the fastest growing trends in contemporary societies, as individuals find the marketplace provides a public opportunity for performing their personal values. We are all consumers:  people in the global North and South alike increasing rely on market transactions for their basic staples, their luxuries and even their lives. We are also citizens:  purchases have material and symbolic meaning and understanding the marketing of values is important for understanding political power.

Existing understandings of ethical consumption rest on the core belief that reconnecting the sites of consumption with those of production will enable a fairer distribution of value along the chains, potentially driven by ‘fair trade’ and ‘ethical consumption’ purchases.  However, these perspectives fall short in their exclusive focus on the product itself as the location of ‘ethical’ value.  To understand the implications of these trends, we must not neglect a focus on products, but must also understand the causes that are ‘sold’ together with the products, and the celebrities that often translate, communicate and embody an ethical leadership role in the management of consumers’ desire to do good while shopping well.

The concept of ‘Brand Aid’ will be employed to describe how branded products are sold as ethical through their verification by celebrities who link them to worthy causes.  Brand Aid is ‘aid to brands’ because it helps sell products and improve a brand’s ethical profile and value. It is also ‘brands that provide aid’ because a proportion of the profit or sales is devoted to helping others.  Brand Aid is thus constituted through the intersection of product+cause+celebrity. 

This course will theoretically and empirically examine how ‘good causes’, celebrity humanitarianism and consumption overlap in view of understanding of how values shape contemporary consumption, and how consumer choice materializes values. Lectures covering concepts and empirical case studies will be integrated by group work, role play and simulations, where the students will have the chance to engage in a series of case studies. 

Selected portions of the following books:

Brockington, Dan (2014) Celebrity Advocacy and International Development, Routledge.

Einstein, M. (2012) Compassion, Inc. University of California Press.

Nicholls, A. and C. Opal (2005). Fair Trade: Market-driven Ethical Consumption. Sage.

O'Rourke, D., (2012). Shopping for good, MIT Press. 

Richey, L.A. (2016) Celebrity Humanitarianism and North-South Relations, Routledge.

Richey, L.A. and S. Ponte (2011) Brand Aid: Shopping Well to Save the World, University of Minnesota Press.

Other articles and case studies TBA