War. What is it good for?

Turns out, it works quite well if you’re a brand that wants to jump on the back of a lot of media attention and traffic.

We all agree that invading countries is unacceptable.

Buddha. Batsford Arboretum, Moreton-in-Marsh
The peaceful Buddha at Batsford Arboretum, Moreton-in-Marsh.

Needless deaths of innocent civilians caught up in power battles of powerful leaders with crazy motives.

But it seems that more and more brands want a piece of that social media traffic.

And it feels slightly grubby, not only trying to promote and indirectly sell your stuff piggybacking on a conflict.

But, these same brands have been silent while ignoring lots of other needless atrocities that happen daily across the World.

Are Ukrainian and Russian lives worth more to your brand than the lives of those in other current war-torn countries around the World?

All of them being bombed and attacked and suppressed daily?

Just not the same social media traffic with some of these older conflicts hey?

If you’re a marketing manager. A brand manager. A business owner.

Please think deeply about how you go about showing solidarity with the Ukrainian people.

Brands should absolutely stand for something.

But they have to be consistent with their moral viewpoint.

They can’t just pick and choose because the potential social media traffic is huge.

Instead, perhaps your brand can help in other ways?

  • Organise your staff and attend a protest.
  • Get behind worthwhile projects such as ‘Stop Bombing Civilians‘.
  • Take a moment at work, in your office to talk about how your people can help.
  • Use your Social Media network to highlight the work that the Red Cross do in war zones.
  • If you have influence, lean on your local political representative.
  • If you have serious influence, lean on someone in your Government to take action.
  • If you have the financial clout, help fund assistance for refugees created by this madness.
  • If the government in your Country have taken money from Russian Oligarchs in the past, lean on them to return that money.
  • A crazy idea, but try and keep abreast of all conflicts around the World, where people are being bombed or attacked on a daily basis.
  • Take a stand against it all – in any form.

War.

What is it good for?

The answer should be, ‘Absolutely nothing’, especially selling stuff.