NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise - Ethics in the BoP Marketplace - Comments

The company has been minting

Anonymous — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:25:48 -0400

The company has been minting money on the popular idea that "fair is beautiful", yes useless. But take a similar analogy in the chemical industry, where "clean has a scent". Companies producing fixatives (clearly a useless addition to detergents) have been minting money too. My question is, where do you draw the line between what is moral and what is immoral in the 'useless' world. What are your thoughts?

FAIL!!

Jay Liew — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:13:25 -0400

I agree with Derek. This ad fails the "exploit insecurities and race/class divisions?" test. To be blunt, the ad implants the message that, "buy the product, get lighter skin, other women will be more jealous of you, American guy will notice you, you will be successful like a super star, and your father will love you." Is that so? Did Paris Hilton direct this ad? No, this is not how one should mentally manipulate people.

Hi Nitin,I was referring to

Derek Newberry — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:51:29 -0400

Hi Nitin,

I was referring to the moral dilemma the product itself poses. To be specific, when I mentioned useless items I had purchased, I meant useless in the sense of not being in my best interest to own, not just products that are ineffective. Thanks for helping me to clarify!

-Derek

Specific Criticism

Nitin Rao — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:04:23 -0400

Is the criticism related to the efficacy of the product, or the moral discretion of the company? Or a loose hybrid? These are quite different.

Ethics in the BoP Marketplace

Derek Newberry — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:20:09 -0400

I ran across this Fair and Lovely ad on YouTube recently. For those who don't know, this product is a skin-lightening cream that was at the center of a debate last year over the value and impact of a BoP approach to poverty alleviation.

The ad is in Hindi, but the message is clear: lightening your skin with this HLL product will open doors for you, leading to a happier more successful future. I support BoP initiatives in general but don't believe that every successful attempt to market to the poor should be lauded.

This ad crosses a line for me and last year I found myself personally agreeing with the BoP critics' point on this specific product. As a consumer who has wasted a few dollars of his own on useless items, I can say that we often get goaded by ad campaigns with empty promises into irrationally buying products that do not serve our best interests.

But it got me thinking about how we draw the line between BoP initiatives that deserve our support, and general market activity involving the BoP that it may not be our place to condemn, but that we should neither hold up as a model example.

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