Pretentious Charity
It is not enough to be good at something; you have to be famous for that. Being a bad person is ok; being infamous is worst.
Background
Many parts of India went under lockdown in March 2020 due to the pandemic. During the lockdown, came the news of the shortage of PPE kits, sanitisers, ventilators, hospital beds. Some of the news pieces which I still see during the lockdown: how some of the hospitals are rejecting Covid-19 patients, how some of these hospitals are charging exorbitant prices for Covid-19 treatment.
Amidst all of this chaos, many of the companies started manufacturing sanitisers and masks. Some of them began certifying these masks with their version of N95 certification. I wonder how many of these were genuine.
Social Media
My social media feed (and I presume yours too) is with the news of charity. Suddenly many of these companies in the world have become the best manufacturer of sanitisers, masks and other protective equipment. They started running after their social media followers to show them that their beloved company is good at heart. Some of these companies seem to be targeting their future employees and informing them that their prospective employer is good at heart.
Are they really that charitable and good at heart when it comes to times when there is no pandemic? I leave that up to you to decide. Doing charity is one thing and blasting it on social media is another. Why do you have to show the entire world that you are doing good? Can’t you just be kind and happy about that? Why is it that every time something terrible happens, companies rush to the rescue and fill the entire feed of there social media followers with the positives about their beloved company? It reminds me of a saying,
“It is not enough to be good at something, you have to be famous for that. Being a bad person is ok, being infamous is worst.”
I think the same logic applies to companies. In the end, they are also full of people, working for the common goal: to generate profits year-on-year, no matter what, no matter the damage to the environment, no matter how their co-workers get treated, no matter how pathetic salaries be.
CSR — Corporate Social Responsibility
I wonder how much actual revenue growth happens because of these social media marketing campaigns. Company’s audited financial statements are the best place to learn how the company fares as compared to its competitors. You can check the website of the company under the section of Investor Relations (or some version of it) and read the audited financial statements. The annual report is the best place to learn about the company and how it looks at the market. You can also look for the heading CSR — Corporate Social Responsibility, and judge on your own about how the company is giving back to society. The websites of BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange), NSE (National Stock Exchange) are the best place to get information about their listed companies.
Closure
As long as our doctors, healthcare workers and police are getting paid on time, getting their safety gears on time, we should be happy.
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