The Marketing Journal
  • About
  • Interviews
  • Articles
  • Videos
  • Book Reviews
  • Views
  • Subscribe
“Brandshaming: The Kids vs. The NRA” – Philip Kotler and Christian Sarkar

“Brandshaming: The Kids vs. The NRA” – Philip Kotler and Christian Sarkar

March 11, 2018

This past Valentine’s Day Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School lost 17 students to a mass shooting. The students stood up in revolt against our politicians – asking them to do something instead of offering “thoughts and prayers.”

One after another, the country was witness to these eloquent students challenging the status quo:

Emma Gonzalez:


Cameron Kasky
:


David Hogg
:

Alfonso Calderon:

Brandshaming: The Voice of Revolt

In the past, the NRA has exerted pressure on lawmakers, critics, and even gun manufacturers through political lobbying.  But now, Generation Z and their parents have touched a nerve.  The NRA put out a video ad ridiculing anyone who wasn’t supportive of their agenda.

Parkland student Sarah Chadwick responded with a blow-for-blow parody.  See how the two accounts compare:

The NRA made its ad — now this Parkland student is clapping back with an unyielding reply. #parkland #neveragain @sarahchad_ pic.twitter.com/lHzmEckZvD

— Brut (@brutlive) March 8, 2018

The result?  The brandshaming of the NRA and its partners.

As the NRA is increasingly viewed as a dangerous brand, businesses are taking measures that defy the NRA and are more strict on gun sales than federal or state laws.

The American consumer demands change, and progressive businesses act:

Increasing pressure from consumers has caused companies to cut their ties with the NRA.  Companies eliminating their NRA-member discount programs include:

  • Airlines: Delta Air Lines, United Airlines
  • Car Rentals: Enterprise, Alamo, National, Hertz, Avis, Budget
  • Tech: Symantec, Starkey Hearing Technologies
  • Miscellaneous: TrueCar, MetLife, SimpliSafe, First National Bank of Omaha, Dick’s Sports

And, as companies distance themselves from the polarizing effects of the NRA, some politicians have attempted to punish them for their behavior.

Delta Airlines was punished by the politicians of the state of Georgia. The New York Times reports:

Georgia lawmakers approved a bill on Thursday that stripped out a tax break proposal highly coveted by Delta Air Lines — the most stinging punishment that America’s pro-gun forces have leveled so far on one of the many corporations recalibrating their positions on firearms after the Florida high school massacre.

The $50 million sales tax exemption on jet fuel that was sought by Delta, one of Georgia’s biggest employers, had been included in a broader tax-relief bill. But this week, a number of Georgia Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, sought to remove the perk as retribution for Delta’s decision to end a promotional discount for members of the National Rifle Association.

What gives?

A Framework for Understanding Brand Activism

As we’ve mentioned earlier, brand activism is a new imperative for business because, now, more than ever, customers demand that companies “do the right thing.”  And as the Parkland students have shown us, Generation Z may be even more conscious than the Millennials.

Here’s a framework we created to explain the effects of regressive vs. progressive brand activism:

Companies and organizations that lobby our politicians for regressive policies are brand activists. They pursue policies that hurt the public good. This in turn leads to outrage and outright revolt amongst the public, consumers, and even some of their customers. As we mentioned previously, the poster-child for regressive activism was Big Tobacco – the tobacco companies that for so many years denied the harm their products did to consumers, even when their own research revealed otherwise. They promoted the “virtues” of smoking in a way that actually hurt consumers.

Now, it seems, the NRA is the new face of regressive brand activism.

When did the NRA lose sight of its public responsibilities?  Historically, one can argue that up until 1977 the NRA often supported gun-control legislation.

Today the NRA is fighting our kids – whose very lives the NRA has placed in danger.

The kids, meanwhile, are taking to the streets. March for Our Lives, a national event, is planned for March 24.

Stay tuned.  At last count, Emma Gonzalez had more Twitter followers than the NRA.


Learn more
about  Brand Activism at www.activistbrands.com >>

READ: Brand Activism: From Purpose to Action by Christian Sarkar and Philip Kotler 

Christian Sarkar is the editor of this site, an entrepreneur, consultant, artist, and activist. See the $300 House project and FixCapitalism.com.

Philip Kotler is the “father of modern marketing.”  He is the S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He was voted the first Leader in Marketing Thought by the American Marketing Association and named The Founder of Modern Marketing Management in the Handbook of Management Thinking. Professor Kotler holds major awards including the American Marketing Association’s (AMA) Distinguished Marketing Educator Award and Distinguished Educator Award from The Academy of Marketing Science. The Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI) named him Marketer of the Year and the American Marketing Association described him as “the most influential marketer of all time.” He is in the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame, and is featured as a “guru” in the Economist. Sign up for his newsletter >>

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Related Posts

“Wicked Problems” – An Interview with Philip Kotler and Christian Sarkar

Brand Activism /

“Wicked Problems” – An Interview with Philip Kotler and Christian Sarkar

“Technology and the Common Good” – Christian Sarkar and Philip Kotler

Branding /

“Technology and the Common Good” – Christian Sarkar and Philip Kotler

“Cultural Presence: The Social Function of Milan Design Week” – Barbara Dal Corso

Customer Engagement /

“Cultural Presence: The Social Function of Milan Design Week” – Barbara Dal Corso

‹ “The Big Shift: Challenge and Opportunity for Women” – John Hagel › “Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick” 
- An Interview with Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt and Sven Smit
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Recent Posts

  • “Technology and the Common Good” – Christian Sarkar and Philip Kotler
  • “Cultural Presence: The Social Function of Milan Design Week” – Barbara Dal Corso
  • “Wicked Problems” – An Interview with Philip Kotler and Christian Sarkar
  • “Dragon proofing your legacy brand” – Grant McCracken
  • OP-ED: “Autopsy Of a Brand: Tesla” – George Tsakraklides
  • “The 5th P is Purpose” – Christian Sarkar and Philip Kotler
  • “The CEO-as-Brand Era: How Leadership Ego is Fueling Tesla’s Meltdown” – Ilenia Vidili
  • “The Future of Marketing is the Quest for Good” – Christian Sarkar and Philip Kotler
  • “Questions for the New Year” – John Hagel
  • “Enlightened Management – An Interview with Gabriele Carboni”
  • “If you’re not thinking segments, you’re not thinking” – Anthony Ulwick
  • “Does Marketing Need Curtailment for the Sake of Sustainability?” – Philip Kotler
  • ‘Social profit orientation’ can help companies and nonprofits alike do more good in the world by Leonard L. Berry, Lerzan Aksoy, and Tracey Danaher
  • “Understanding Hallyu: The Impact of Korean Pop Culture” by Sanya Anand and David Seyheon Baek
  • “Go-to-Market (GTM): A New Definition” – Karthi Ratnam
  • “Jobs-to-be-Done for Government” – Anthony Ulwick
  • “The Power of Superconsumers” – Christopher Lochhead, Eddie Yoon, & Katrina Kirsch
  • “Zoom Out/Zoom In – Making It Personal” – John Hagel
  • “Regeneration or Extinction?” – a discussion with Philip Kotler, Christian Sarkar, and Enrico Foglia
  • “Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap” – James Dyke, Robert Watson, and Wolfgang Knorr
  • “The allure of the ad-lib: New research identifies why people prefer spontaneity in entertainment” – Jacqueline Rifkin and Katherine Du
  • “What is ‘ethical AI’ and how can companies achieve it?” by Dennis Hirsch and Piers Norris Turner
  • “How the US military used magazines to target ‘vulnerable’ groups with recruiting ads” – Jeremiah Favara
  • “Ethics and AI: Policies for Governance and Regulation” – Aryssa Yoon, Christian Sarkar, and Philip Kotler
  • “Product Feature Prioritization —How to Align on the Right List” – Bob Pennisi
  • “The Community Value Pyramid” – Christian Sarkar, Philip Kotler, Enrico Foglia
  • “Next Practices in Museum Experience Design” – Barbara Dal Corso
  • “What does ESG mean?” – Luciana Echazú and Diego C. Nocetti
  • “ChatGPT could be a game-changer for marketers, but it won’t replace humans any time soon” – Omar H. Fares
  • “If Your Brand Comes Before Your Category, You’re Doing It Wrong” – Eddie Yoon, Nicolas Cole, Christopher Lochhead

Categories

  • Advertising
  • AI
  • Analytics
  • B2B Marketing
  • B2C Marketing
  • Big Data
  • Book Reviews
  • Brand Activism
  • Branding
  • Category Design
  • Community
  • Content Marketing
  • COVID-19
  • Creativity
  • Customer Culture
  • Customer Engagement
  • Customer Experience
  • Dark Marketing
  • Decision Making
  • Design
  • Digital Marketing
  • Ecosystems & Platforms
  • Ethics
  • Go to Market
  • Innovation
  • Internet of Things
  • Jobs-to-be-Done
  • Leadership
  • Manipulation
  • Marketing Technology
  • Markets & Segmentation
  • Meaning
  • Metrics & Outcomes
  • Millennials
  • Mobile Marketing
  • Non Profit Marketing
  • Organizational Alignment
  • Peace Marketing
  • Privacy
  • Product Marketing
  • Regeneration
  • Regenerative Marketing
  • Research
  • Retail
  • Risk & Reputation
  • Sales
  • Services Marketing
  • Social Media
  • Strategy & Business Models
  • Sustainability
  • Uncategorized
  • Videos

Archives

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • September 2024
  • March 2024
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • October 2022
  • August 2022
  • May 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • September 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016

Back to Top

© 2016-19 The Marketing Journal and the individual author(s). All Rights Reserved
Produced by: Double Loop Marketing LLC
By using this site, scrolling this page, clicking a link or continuing to browse otherwise, you agree to the use of cookies, our privacy policy, and our terms of use.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy