David Sirota: From Greenwashing to Workerwashing
from truthdig:
From Greenwashing to Workerwashing
Posted on Aug 24, 2012
By David Sirota
Big Industrial Ag pretends to go organic. PC behemoths mimic Apple products. Barack Obama goes to the right of the Republicans on civil liberties. Mitt Romney suddenly portrays himself as a left-leaning moderate on immigration. It seems no matter the arena, the most cliched move in corporate and political combat is to co-opt an opponents message, expecting nobody to notice or care.
But as inured as we are to this banality, its still shocking to see Corporate America transform the message of organized labor into a sales pitch for ... Corporate America. Yes, according to
The New York Times last month, thats whats happening, as new ads are tapping into a sense of frustration among workers to sell products.
One spot for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (read: the casinos) shows a woman climbing onto her desk to demand a vacation. Another for McDonalds implores us to fight back against employers and overthrow the working lunch. Still another for a Coca-Cola subsidiary seizes on the stress of harsh working conditions to create buzz for a branded Take the Year Off contest.
Marketers are adopting the theme of workers rights at a time when unions themselves are confronting declines in membership and influence, notes the Times. In effect, some labor experts say, they are turning a pro-worker theme on its head to serve the corporate interest. ......................(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/from_greenwashing_to_workerwashing_20120824/