All language subtitles for The Corporation 2004 Part 1.Engilsk

150 years ago

the business corporation

was a relatively
insignificant institution.

Today it is all pervasive.

Like the church

the monarchy
and the communist party

in other times and places

the corporation is today's
dominant institution.

This documentary
examines the nature

evolution impacts and
possible futures

of the modern
business corporation.

Initially given a narrow
legal mandate

what has allowed today's
corporation to achieve

such extraordinary power
and influence over our lives?

We begin our inquiry as
scandals threaten to trigger

a wide debate about the lack
of public control

over big corporations.

I think there is an overhang
over the market of distrust.

listen 95 percent
or some percent

huge percentage

of the business
community are honest

and unreveal
all their assets

got compensation
programs that are balanced.

But there are
some bad apples...

the media debate about
the basic operating principles

of the corporate world
was quickly reduced

to a game of
follow the leader.

I still happen to think
the United States

is the greatest place
in the world to invest.

We have some shake ups
that are going on

because of a few
bad apples.

Some people call me
a bad apple

but I may be bruised
but I still taste sweet.

Some people call me
a bad apple

but I may be the sweetest
apple on the tree.

These are not just
a bunch of bad apples.

This is just
a few bad apples.

This is not just
a few bad apples.

You've gotta get rid
of the bad apples

You can start
with Tyco

Bad apples

We know all
about WorldCom.

Bad apples

Xerox Corporation.

Bad apples

Arthur Anderson.

Bad apples

Enron obviously

bad apples.

K-mart Corporation

Bad apples

the fruit cart is
getting a little more full.

I don�t think it's just a
few apples unfortunately.

I think this is the worst
crisis of confidence

in business.

What's wrong
with this picture?

Can we not pick
a better metaphor

to describe the dominant
institution of our time?

Through the voices of CEOs
whistle blowers

brokers gurus and spies

insiders and outsiders

we present the corporation
as a paradox

an institution which
creates great wealth

but causes enormous
and often hidden harms.

I see the corporation
as part of a jigsaw

in society as a whole

which if you remove it

the picture�s incomplete.

But equally if it's
the only part

it's not going to work.

A sports team.

Some of us are
blocking and tackling.

Some of us
are running the ball

some of us are
throwing the ball.

But we all have
a common purpose

which is to succeed
as an organization.

A corporations
like a family unit.

People in a corporation work
together for a common end

Like the telephone system

it reaches almost
everywhere.

It's extraordinarily powerful
it's pretty hard to avoid.

And it transforms
the lives of people

I think on balance

for the better.

The eagle

soaring clear eyed
competitive

prepared to strike
but not a vulture.

Noble visionary majestic
that people can believe in

and be inspired by

that creates such
a lift that it soars.

I can see that being
a good logo

for the principled
company.

Okay guys
enough bullshit.

Corporations are
artificial creations.

You might say
they�re monsters

trying to devour as much
profit as possible

at anyone's expense.

I think of a whale.

A gentle big fish

which could swallow you
in an instant.

Dr. Frankenstein's creation

has overwhelmed and
overpowered him.

As the corporate form
has done with us.

The word corporate gets
attached in almost

you know in a
pejorative sense to

and gets married
with the word agenda.

And one hears a lot about
the corporate agenda

as though it is evil

as though it is an agenda

which is trying
to take over the world.

Personally l don't
use the word "corporation "

I use the word business.

I will use the word
use the word company.

I will use the words
business community

cause I think that is a much
fairer representation

than zeroing in on just
this word corporation.

It's funny that I've taught
in a business school

for as long as I have

without ever having
been asked so pointedly

to say what I think
a corporation is.

... it is one form of
business ownership...?

It's a group of individuals
working together to serve

a variety of objectives.

The principal one
of which is earning large

growing sustained
legal returns

for the people who
own the business.

The modern corporation has
grown out of the industrial age.

The industrial age
began in 1712

with an Englishman named
Thomas Newcomen

invented a steam driven
pump to pump water

out of the English coalmine
so the English coalminers

could get more
coal to mine

rather than hauling
buckets of water

out of the mine

It was all about productivity
more coal per man hour.

That was the dawn of
the industrial age.

And then it became more
steel per man hour

more textiles
per man hour

more automobiles
per man hour

and today it's more
chips per man hour

more gizmos per man hour.

The system is basically
the same system

producing more
sophisticated products today.

The dominant role of
corporations in our lives

is essentially a product of
roughly the past century.

Corporations were originally
associations of people

who were chartered
by a state

to perform some
particular function.

Like a group of people
want to build abridge

over the Charles River
or something like that.

There were very few
chartered corporations

in early United
States history.

And the ones that existed
had clear stipulations

in their state
issued charters

how long they
could operate

the amount of
capitalization

what they made or did
or maintained

a turnpike whatever was
in their charter

and they didn't
do anything else.

They didn't own or couldn't
own another corporation.

Their shareholders
were liable.

And so on.

In both law and the culture
the corporation was considered

a subordinate entity that was
a gift from the people

in order to serve
the public good.

So you have that history

and we shouldn't
be misled by it

it's not as if these
were the halcyon days

when all corporations
served the public trust

but there's a lot
to learn from that.

The Civil War and the
Industrial Revolution

created enormous growth
in corporations.

And so there was an explosion
of railroads

who got large federal
subsidies of land.

Banking heavily
manufacturing

And corporate lawyers
a century and a half ago

realized that they needed
more power to operate

And wanted to remove some
of the constraints

that had historically been
placed on the corporate form.

The 14th amendment
was passed

at the end of the Civil War

to give equal rights
to black people.

And therefore it said

No state can deprive
any person of life

liberty or property
without due process of law.

And that was intended
to prevent the states

from taking away life
liberty or property

from black people
as they had done

for so much of
our history.

And what happens is the
corporations come into court

and corporation lawyers
are very clever.

And they say

Oh you cant deprive
a person of life

liberty or property.

We are a person.

A corporation is a person.

And so supreme court
goes along with that.

And what was particularly
grotesque about this was

that the 14th amendment
was passed

to protect newly
freed slaves.

So for instance
between 1890 and 1910

there were 307 cases brought
before the court

under the 14th amendment.

288 of these brought
by corporations

19 by African Americans.

600000 people were killed
to get rights for people

and then with strokes of
the pen over the next 30years

judges applied those rights
to capital and property

while stripping them
from people.

Everybody makes a mistake
once in a while

but I just cant be
personally responsible.

That's one of the weaknesses
of a partnership

isn't it Sid?

Well maybe you�d better
incorporate the store.

Incorporate?!

Yes

Incorporating would give you
the big advantage of

what you want right now
limited liability.

You start with a
group of people

who wanna invest their
money in accompany.

Then these people apply for
a charter as a corporation.

This government issues a
charter to that corporation.

Now that corporation operates
legally as an individual person

it is not a group of people

it is under the law
a legal person.

Imperial Steel Incorporated
has many of the legal rights

of a person.

It can buy and
sell property...

It can borrow money.

It can sue in court
and be sued.

It can carry
on a business.

Imperial Steel

along with thousands
of other legal persons

is a part of our
daily living.

It is a member
of our society.

Having acquired the legal rights
and protections of a person

the question arises

What kind of person
is the corporation?

Corporations were given
the rights of immortal persons.

But then special
kinds of persons

persons who had no
moral conscience.

These are a special
kind of persons

which are designed by law
to be concerned

only for their
stockholders.

And not say what
are sometimes

called their stakeholders

like the community or the
work force or whatever.

The great problems of having
corporate citizens

is that they aren�t
like the rest of us.

As Baron Thurlow in England
is supposed to have said

They have no soul to save

and they have no body
to incarcerate.

I believe the mistake that
a lot of people make

when they think
about corporations

is they think you know
corporations are like us.

General Electric is a kind
old man with lots of stories.

Nike young energetic.

Microsoft aggressive

McDonald's young
outgoing enthusiastic

Monsanto immaculately dressed

Disney goofy.

The Body Shop
um deceptive

very lovely.

Do you know what the
body shop is?

Nope.

They have feelings
they have politics

they have belief systems

they really only
have one thing

the bottom line

How to make as much
money as they can

in any given quarter.

That's it.

Of course they
make a profit

and it's a good thing.

That's the incentive that
makes capitalism work.

To give us more
of the things that wanted.

That�s the incentive that
other economic systems lack.

People accuse
us of only paying attention

to the economic leg

because they think

that�s what a business
persons mind set is

it's just money.

And it's not so

because we as
business people

know that wanted to certainly
address the environment

but also wanted to be seen as

constructive members
of society.

There are companies that do
good for the communities.

They produce
services and goods

that are of value to all of us

that make our
lives better

and that's a good thing.

The problem comes in in
the profit motivation here

because these people

there�s no such
thing as enough.

And I always
counterpoint out

there�s no organization
on this planet

that can neglect
its economic foundation.

Even someone living under
a banyan tree is dependent

on support from someone.

Economic leg has to be
addressed by everyone.

It's not just
a business issue.

But unlike someone
under a banyan tree

all publicly
traded corporations

has been structured

through a series
of legal decisions

to have a peculiar and
disturbing characteristic.

They are required
by law

to place the financial
interests of their owners

above competing interests.

In fact the corporation
is legally bound

to put its bottom line
ahead of everything else

even the public good.

That�s not
a law of nature

that's a very
specific decision.

In fact
a judicial decision.

So they�re concerned only
for the short term profit

of their stockholders who are
very highly concentrated.

To whom do these
companies owe loyalty?

What does loyalty mean?

Well it turns
out that

that was a rather
naive concept anyways

as corporations are
always owed obligation

to themselves to get large
and to get profitable.

In doing this

it tends to be more
profitable to the extent

it can make other
people pay for the bills

for its impact
on society.

There's a terrible word that
economists use for this

called externalities.

An externality is the effect
of a transaction

between two individuals.

Third party who
has not consented to

or played any role
in the carrying out

of that transaction

And there are real
problems in that area.

There�s no
doubt about it.

Running a business is
a tough proposition.

There are costs to be
minimized at every turn

and at some point
the corporation says

you know let somebody
else deal with that.

Let's let somebody else
supply the military power

to the middle east to protect
the oil at its source.

Let's let somebody else build
the roads that we can drive

these automobiles on.

Let's let somebody
else have those problems

And that is where
externalities come from

that notion of let somebody
else deal with that.

I got all I can
handle myself.

A corporation is an
externalizing machine

in the same way that a shark
is a killing machine.

Each one is designed
in a very efficient way

to accomplish
particular objectives.

In the achievement
of those objectives

there isn�t any question
of malevolence or of will.

The enterprise
has within it

and the shark
has within it

those characteristics that
enable it to do that

for which it was designed.

The pressure is
on the corporation

to deliver results now

and to externalize
any cost

that this unwary
or uncaring public

will allow it
to eternalize.

To determine the kind
of personality

that drives the corporation

to behave like
an externalizing machine

we can analyze it

like a psychiatrist
would a patient.

We can even formulate
a diagnosis

on the basis of typical
case histories of harm

that is inflicted
on others

selected from a universe
of corporate activity.

Well this is the office

of the national
labour committee

here in the garment area
of New York City.

It's a little
bit dishevelled.

These are all from
different campaigns.

To make this stuff
concrete as possible

we purchased all of
the products from the factories

that we're talking about.

This shirt sells
for $ 14.99.

And the women who made
this shirt got paid $ 0.03.

Liz Claiborne jackets
made in El Salvador

The jackets are $ 178

and the workers were
paid $ 0.74

for every jacket they made.

Alpine car stereos
$ 0.31 an hour.

It's not just sneakers.

It's not just apparel.

It's everything.

We were in Honduras

and some workers they knew
what kind of work we did

and they approached
us and said

conditions in our
factory are horrible.

Will you please
meet with us.

And we said we would.

But you cant meet in
the developing world

you cant walk up in
a factory with your notebook

and workers come
up and interview them.

I mean there's
goons there�s spies

the military police

so you do everything
in a clandestine manner.

We are about
to start the meeting

and in walk three guys

very tough looking guys.

The company had found
out about our meeting

and sent these spies.

Obviously we didn�t
have the meeting.

But these young girls
were really bright

And as they
were leaving

away from the eyesight
of the spies

they started to put their hands
underneath the table.

And I put my hand
under there

and they put into my hand
their pay stubs.

So wed know
who they were

what they were paid

and the labels that
they made in the factory

so wed know who
they worked for.

So I took my hand
after everyone had left.

And in the palm
of my hand

was the face was of
Kathy Lee Gifford

And on the bottom
of it was

A portion of the proceeds
from the sale of this garment

would be donated to various
children�s charities.

Very touching
gets you right here.

Wal-Mart is telling you
if you purchase these pants

and Kathy Lee
is telling you

if you purchase
these pants

you will be
helping children.

The problem was

the people that
handed us this label

were 13 years of age.

Do many people
in your family work here?

Just me.

How many people
do you support?

Eight people?

And how do you do it with
that salary is it enough?

No.

Let's look at it from
a different point of view

Let's look at it
from a point of view

of the people in Bangladesh
who are starving to death.

The people in China
who are starving to death

and the only thing that they
have to offer to anybody

that is worth anything

is their low
cost labour.

And in effect what
they�re saying to the world

is they have this big
flag that says

Come over and hire us.

We will work
for $ 0.10 an hour.

Because $ 0.10 an hour
will buy us the rice

that's wanted not
to starve.

And come and rescue us
from our circumstance.

And so when Nike comes in

they are regarded by
everybody in the community

as an enormous godsend.

Hey wait!

You are not
permitted to be here!

The door was wide open.

No no no no no.

That�s my clothes.

Those are my clothes.

This is not your clothes.

Why your camera!?

Don�t touch the woman.

Why!?

This is a private company.

Without permission
how can you come here?

Yes well the door
was wide open

The doors
for employees

not for you.

We went through
the garbage dump

in the Dominican
Republic.

We always do this
kind of stuff

we dig around.

One day we found
a big pile

of Nikes internal
pricing documents.

Nike assigns a time
frame to each operation.

They don�t talk
about minutes.

They break the timeframe into
ten thousandths of a second.

You get to the bottom
of all 22 operations;

they give the workers 6.6
minutes to make the shirt.

It's $ 0.70 an hour
in the Dominican Republic.

That�s 6.6 minutes
equals $ 0.08.

These are Nikes documents.

That means the wages come to
three tenths of one percent

of the retail price.

This is the reality.

It's the science
of exploitation.

What happens in the areas
where these corporations

go in and are successful?

They soon find that they cant
do anymore in that country

because the wages
are too high now.

And what�s that another
way of saying

well the people are
no longer desperate.

So okay we�ve used up
all the desperate people there

they�re all plump and
healthy and wealthy.

Let�s move on to the next
desperate lot and employ them

and raise their level up.

Well the whole idea of
the export processing zone

is that it will be the
first step towards

this wonderful
new development

through the investment that�s
attracted to these countries

there will be
a trickle down effect

into the communities.

But because so many countries
are now in the game

of creating these
free trade enclaves

they have to keep providing
more and more incentives

for companies to come to their
little denationalized pocket.

And the tax holidays
get longer.

So the workers rarely
make enough money

to buy
three meals a days

let alone feed
their local economy.

Something happened in 1940

which marked the beginning
of a new era.

The era of the ability
to synthesize and create.

On an unlimited scale

new chemicals that had
never existed before

in the world.

And using the
magic of research

oil companies compete
with each other

in taking the petroleum
molecule apart

and rearranging it into
well you name it...

So suddenly it became possible

to produce any new chemical

synthetic chemicals

the likes of which had never
existed before in the world

for any purpose and
at virtually no cost.

Fabrics toot brushes
tires insecticides

cosmetics weed killers.

A whole galaxy of things to
make a better life on earth.

For instance if you wanted
to go to a chemist and say

look I want to have
a chemical say a pesticide

which will persist
throughout the food chain

and I don�t want to have
to renew it very very often

Id like it to be
relatively non-destructible

and then he�d put two
benzene molecules

on the blackboard and
add a chlorine here

and a chlorine there

that was DDT!

When the eighth army needed
Jap civilians to help them out

in our occupation

they called on native
doctors to administer DDT

under the supervision
of our men

to stand a potential
typhus epidemic.

Dusting like this goes a long
way in checking disease

and the laughs on them.

"Pardon our dust"

As the petrochemical
era grew and grew

warning signs emerged that
some of these chemicals

could pose hazards.

The data initially were
trivial anecdotal

but gradually a body of data
started accumulating

to the extent that we now know
that the synthetic chemicals

which have permeated
our workplace

our consumer products

our air our water

produced cancer
and also birth defects

and some other
toxic effects.

Furthermore industry
has known about this

at least most industries
have known about this

and have attempted
to trivialize these risks.

If I take a gun and shoot
you that�s criminal.

If I expose you
to some chemicals

which knowingly are
going to kill you

what difference is there?

The difference is that it
takes longer to kill you.

We are now in the midst
of a major cancer epidemic

and I have no doubt

and I have documented
the basis for this

that industry is
largely responsible

for this overwhelming
epidemic of cancer

in which one in every two men
get cancer in their lifetimes

and one in every three
women get cancer.

Towards the end
of 1989

a great box of documents
arrived at my office

without any indication
where they came from.

And I opened them

and found in it a complete
set of Monsanto files

dealing with toxicological
testing of cows

who�d been given RBGH.

BST trade name Posilac is
being used in more than

a quarter of the dairy herds
in the United States

according to Monsanto.

The milk is being drunk
by a large portion

of the American population

since the food and drug
administration declared it safe

for both cows and humans...

And at that the
Monsanto was saying

There�s no
evidence whatsoever

of any adverse affects

We don�t use antibiotics.

And this clearly showed
that they had lied

through their teeth.

The files described areas
of chronic inflammation

in the heart lungs
kidneys spleen

also reproductive effects

also a whole series
of other problems.

...the most comprehensive
independent assessment of the drug

"concludes that bust
results in un necessary pain

suffering and
distress for the cows.

This is not acceptable
for a drug designed simply

to increase milk production...

It is a silly product.

We have the industrial
world is a wash in milk.

We're over producing milk.

We actually have governments
around the world

who pay farmers not
to produce milk.

So the first product
Monsanto comes up with

is a product that produces
more of what we don�t need.

Of course you�ll want to inject
Posilac in every eligible cow

as each cow is not treated
is a lost income opportunity.

But the problem was

that use of
the artificial hormone

caused all sorts of
problems for the cows.

It caused something
called mastitis

which is a very painful
infection of the udders.

When you milk the cow

if the cow
has bad mastitis

some of the

and I don�t know how to
say this in a you know

I hope people aren�t
watching at dinnertime

but the pus from the
infection of the udders

ends up in the milk.

And the somatic cell
count they call it

the bacteria count

inside your
milk goes up.

There�s accost to the cows.

The cows get sicker when
they�re injected with RBGH.

They�re injected
with antibiotics.

We know that people are
consuming antibiotics

through their food

and we know that
that�s contributing

to antibiotic resistant
bacteria and diseases.

And we know we're at a
crisis when somebody can go

into a hospital and
get a staff infection

and it cant be
cured and they die.

That�s a crisis.

Bad for the cow

Bad for the farmer

Bad potentially
for the consumer

The jury is out

we see a lot of
conflicting evidence

about potential
health risk.

And of course
as a consumer

my belief is why
should I take any risk?

Factory farm cows have not
been the only victims

of Monsanto products.

Large areas of Vietnam were
deforested by the us military

using Monsanto�s agent orange.

The toxic herbicide
reportedly caused

over 50000 birth defects

and hundreds of thousands of cancers
in Vietnamese civilians and soldiers

and in former American troops
serving in South East Asia.

Unlike the Vietnamese victims

U. S. Vietnam war veterans
exposed to Agent Orange

were able to sue Monsanto
for causing their illnesses.

Monsanto settled
out of court

paying $80 million
in damages.

But it never
admitted guilt

Sleeping in a motel
in Brewer Maine one night

I woke up with
terrible hay fever

and my eyes were burning.

And I looked out
at the river

and there were great
mounds of white foam

going right
down the river.

And the next morning
I got up and I said

My God what was
that happening last night

He said "Oh that�s
just the river".

And I said
"what do you mean?"

He said "Well look every
night the paper company sends

the stuff down the river."

And I said "What are
you talking about?"

And he said "Don�t
you understand?"

"That show we get rid of the
effluent from the paper mills."

Well I knew at that time
I had been in the business.

I had sold oil
to the paper mills.

I knew all the owners.

I had been in politics.

I knew the people
in the towns.

I knew not one constituent
of the paper mills

wanted to have
the river polluted.

And yet here the river
was being polluted.

And it was more or less as
if we created a doom machine.

In our search for wealth
and for prosperity

we created something that�s
going to destroy us.

The traders who are
involved in the market

are not guys
who are

whose moral fibre

when it comes to
environmental conditions

are going to be
rattled at all

They�re seeing dollars
and they�re making money.

Brokers don�t stay away
from copper

because it violates
their religious beliefs

or your environmental
policies.

No.

There are times
when you think about it

but it's fleeting.

It really is
a fleeting moment.

It's like yeah
oh yeah yeah

well a town is being
polluted down there in Peru

but hey this guy
needs to buy some copper.

I�m getting paid
a commission too.

Our information that we receive
does not include anything

about the environmental
conditions

because until
the environmental conditions

become a commodity
themselves or are being traded

then obviously we will not
have anything to do with that.

It doesn�t come into
our psyche at all.

It's so far away and
it's you hardly hear

anything about it.

I mean keep in mind there are
things going on right in our

backyards for god sake.

We trade live hogs.

I mean there are so many pigs
in the state of Carolina

and they�re
polluting the rivers

but how often do you
find out about that?

At Multinational Monitor
we�ve put together a list

of the top corporate
criminals of the 1990s.

We went back and looked at
all the criminal fines that

corporations had
paid in the decade.

Exxon pled guilty in connection
to federal criminal charges

with the Valdez spill and paid
$ 125 million in criminal fines.

General Electric

was guilty of defrauding
the federal government

and paid $ 9.5 million
in criminal fines.

Chevron was guilty of
environmental violations

and paid $ 6.5 million
in fines.

Mitsubishi was guilty
of anti-trust violations

and paid $ 1.8 million in fines.

IBM was guilty of
illegal exports and paid.

Eastman Kodak was guilty of
environmental violations.

Pfizer the drug manufacturer

was guilty of
antitrust violations.

Odwalla was guilty of food and
drug regulatory violations.

Sears was guilty of...

Damon Clinical Laboratories
was guilty of...

Blue Cross Blue
Shield was guilty of

Again and again we have
the problem

that whether you obey
the law or not

is a matter whether
its cost effective.

If the chance
of getting caught

and the penalties are less
than it costs to comply

people think of it as
just a business decision.

Drawing the metaphor of
the early attempts to fly.

Theban going off of a very
high cliff in his airplane

with the wings flapping

and the guys
flapping the wings

and the wind
is in his face

and this poor fool
think she�s flying

but in fact
he�s in freefall

and he just doesn�t
know it yet

because the ground
is so far away

but of course the craft
is doomed to crash.

That�s the way our
civilization is

the very high cliff

represents the virtually
united resources

we seem to have when
we began this journey.

The craft isn�t flying

because it's not built according
to the laws of aerodynamics

and is subject
to the law of gravity.

Civilization is not flying

because it's not built according
to the laws of aerodynamics

for civilizations
that would fly.

And of course the ground
is still a long way away

but some people have seen
that ground rushing up

sooner than
the rest of us have.

The visionaries have seen it
and have told us its coming.

There�s not a
single scientific

peer reviewed paper published
in the last 25years

that would contradict
this scenario

Every living system
of earth

is in decline

every life support system
of earth is in decline

and these together
constitute the biosphere

the biosphere that supports
and nurtures all of life

not just our life but perhaps
30 million other species

that share
this planet with us.

The typical company
of the 20th century

extractive wasteful
abusive linear

in all of its processes

taking from the earth

making wasting
sending its products

back to the biosphere
waste to a landfill...

I myself was amazed to learn
just how much stuff

the earth has to produce
through our extraction process

to produce a dollar of
revenue for our company.

When I learnt
I was flabbergasted.

We are leaving a terrible
legacy of poison

and diminishment
of the environment

for our grandchildren�s
grandchildren

generations not yet born.

Some people have called that
intergeneration tyranny

a form of taxation
without representation

levied by us
on generations yet to be.

It's the wrong
thing to do.

One of the questions
that comes up periodically

is to what extent could
corporation be considered

to be psychopathic.

And if we look at a corporation
as a legal person

that it may not be that
difficult to actually draw

the transition between
psychopathy in the individual

to psychopathy
in a corporation.

We could go through
the characteristics

that define this particular
disorder one by one

and see how they might
apply to corporations.

They would have all
the characteristics

and in fact
in many respects

the corporation
of that sort

is the proto typical
of a psychopath.

If the dominant institution
of our time has been created

in the image of
a psychopath

who bears moral responsibility
for its actions?

Can a building have
moral opinions?

Can a building have
social responsibility?

If a building cant have
social responsibility

what does it mean to
say a corporation can?

A corporation is simply
an artificial legal structure

but the people
who are engaged in it

whether the stockholder

whether the
executives in it

whether the employees

they all have
moral responsibilities.

It's a fair assumption
that every human being

real human beings

flesh and
blood ones

not corporations

but every flesh and blood
human being is a moral person.

You know we've
got the same genes

we're more or less
the same

but our nature

the nature of humans

allows all kinds
of behaviour.

I mean everyone of us
under some circumstances

could be a gas chamber
attendant and a saint.

No job in my experience
with Goodyear

has been as frustrating
as the CEO job.

Because even though
the perception is

that you have absolute power
to do whatever you want

the reality is
you don�t have that power

and so metes if you had
really free hand

if you really did what
you wanted to do

that suits your
personal thoughts

and your personal priorities
you�d act differently.

But as a CEOm
you cannot do that

Layoff shave become
so wide-spread

that people
tend to believe that

CEOs make these decisions

without any consideration
to the human implications

of their decisions

It is never a decision
that any CEO makes lightly.

It is a tough decision.

But it is the consequence
of modern capitalism

When you look
at a corporation

just like when
you look at a slave owner

you want to distinguish
between the institution

and the individual.

So slavery for example
or other forms of tyranny

are inherently monstrous

but the individuals
participating in them

may be the nicest guys
you could imagine

benevolent friendly
nice to their children

even nice to their slaves
caring about other people.

I mean as individuals
they may be anything.

In their institutional
role they're monsters

because the institution
is monstrous.

Then the same is true here.

My wife and l some years
ago had a tour home

a demonstration.

25 people arrived

they hung a big banner
on the top of our house

saying murderers

they danced around outside
with gasmasks and so on.

As a public demonstration
it wasn�t very effective

due to the fact that this
is a very rural area

two people and a dog

and it's not
a very big house

which I think rather
surprised them

but then we sat down
and talked to them

for a couple of hours

and we gave them
tea and coffee

and they had
lunch on our lawn.

After about 20
minutes they said

Well the problem is
not you. It's Shell.

And I said now wait a
minute lets talk about

what is Shell?

It's made up
of people like me.

In the end what we
found in that discussion

were all the things
they we're worried about

I was worried about as well

climate oppressive
regimes human rights

the big difference
between us was

I feel that I can actually
make a contributions to this

these people
were frustrated

because they felt that
they had no nothing to do.

So an individual
CEO lets say

may really care
about the environment

and in fact

since they have such
extraordinary resources

they can even devote some of
their resources to that

without violating
their responsibility

to be totally inhuman

which is why

as the Moody Starts
serve tea to protestors

Shell Nigeria can flare
unrivalled amounts of gas

making it of the worlds single
worst sources of pollution.

And all the professed concerns
about the environment

do not spare Ken Saro Wiwa
and eight other activists

from being hung for opposing
Shells environment practices

in the Niger Delta.

The corporation
is not a person

it doesn�t think.

People in it think

and for them it is legitimate
to create terminator technology.

So that farmers are not
able to save their seeds.

Seeds that will
destroy themselves

through a suicide gene.

Seeds that are designed to only
produce crop in one season.

You really need to
have a brutal mind.

It's a war against evolution
to even think in those terms.

But quite clearly profits are
so much higher in their minds

The profit motive
which drove Klutzy

to accomplish so much
may bring out the evil

as well as the good...

Hellooo?

My work spans
all industry sectors

I mean I virtually have
worked for like Id say

25 percent
of the fortune 500.

I�ve posed as
an investment banker.

I�ve posed as a
venture capitalist.

I�ve set up
front companies

that are executive
recruiting firms.

Essentially I�m a spy.

I'll locate
your employees

and I will tell them
that I�m calling

from Acme
Recruiting Agency

and that I�ve got a
job that pays them

considerably more than
what they�re paying.

Would they mind meeting
me for an interview?

And when the executive
shows up

what he doesn�t
realize is

I�m actually debriefing him
on behalf of a competitor.

That there is no job
and that the office

that he�s at
has been rented

and the picture on my desk
of my family is a phoney

and it's all just a big
elaborate ruse

to glean competitive
information from him.

I don�t feel any guilt.

It's you know what I mean
you have to expect

that guys like me
are out there.

We're predators.

It's about competition
it's about market share

it's about
being aggressive

and it's about
shareholder value.

What is your
stock at today?

If you�re a CEO

I mean do you think your
shareholders really care

whether you�re Billie
Buttercup or not?

Do you think that
they really

they would prefer you
to be a nice guy?

Over having money
in their pocket?

I don�t think so.

I think people want money.

That�s the bottom line.

The fact that most of these
companies are run

by white men
white rich men

means that they
are out of touch

with what the majority
of the world is.

Because the majority
of this planet

are not a bunch
of rich white guys.

They are people
of other colours

they are the majority.

Women are the majority

the poor
and working poor

make up the majority
of this planet.

So the decisions
they make

come from not the reality
that exists in the world.

How much is enough?

How much is enough?

If you are a billionaire

would it be okay just
to be a half a billionaire?

Wouldn�t it be okay
for your company

to make a little
less money...

When I bought those
two airplane tickets

for Phil Knight and myself
to fly to Indonesia

I was prepared for him
to say okay lets go.

Oh no not a chance

Not a chance.

No?

They�re transferable.

I can change it
to another day.

And call me on it.

Call my bluff.

He�s a smart guy.

I mean he�s not
he�s not stupid.

And so I thought okay
get ready for this.

Especially because you know
I bought first-class tickets.

So you know it would be a
comfortable ride at least

you know and of course he
tells me then on camera.

I�ve never been to Indonesia.

And I�m like taken
aback by this.

I cant believe it.

The guys the head
of the company

he�s never walked through
his own factories.

Oh you�ve got to go.

I cant go right now and
the rest of this year.

When we were done
filming he calls me up

a couple of weeks
later and he goes

I may have a chance to go
there with you to the factories.

I�m going to the Australian
Open to watch some tennis.

and uh you know
maybe I can get up there

or at least
you can go there.

Would you like to go
to the Australian open?

For 21years

I never gave a thought
to what we were taking

from the earth or
doing to the earth

in the making
of our products.

And then
in the summer of 1994

we began to hear questions
from our customers

we had never
heard before

What�s your company doing
for the environment?

And we didn�t have answers.

The real answer
was not very much.

And it really disturbed
many of our people

not me so
much as them

and a group in our
research department

decided to convene
a taskforce

and bring people from our
businesses around the world

to come together
to assess

our company�s world wide
environment position

to begin to frame answers
for those customers.

They asked me if I would come
and speak to that group

and give them
a kick off speech

and launch this new task force
with an environmental vision

and I didn�t have
an environmental vision

and I did not want
to make that speech.

And at sort of
the propitious moment

this book
landed on my desk.

It was Paul Hawkins book
The Ecology of Commerce

and I began to read The
Ecology of Commerce,

really desperate
for inspiration

and very quickly
into that book

I found the phrase
The death of birth.

It was E. O. Wilson�s expression
for species extinction

The death of birth

and it was a point
of a spear into my chest

and I read on and
the spear went deeper

and it became an
epiphanal experience

a total change
of mindset for myself

and a change of paradigm.

Can any product be
made sustainably?

Well not any
and every product.

Can you make
landmines sustainably?

Well I don�t think so.

There�s a more fundamental
question than that

about landmines.

Some products ought
not to be made at all.

Unless we can make carpets
sustainably you know

perhaps we don�t have a place
in a sustainable world

but neither does anybody else
making products unsustainably.

One day early in this journey
it dawned on me that

the way Id been
running interface

is the way
of the plunderer

plundering something
that�s not mine

something that belongs
to every creature on earth

and I said to myself

my goodness

the day must come
when this is illegal

when plundering
is not allowed

it must come.

So I said to
myself my goodness

some day people like
me will end up in jail.

I�ve got to be
honest with you.

When the September 11th
situation happened

I didn�t know that
the and I must say

and I want to say
this because its

I don�t want
to take it lightly

it's not a light
situation.

It's a devastating act.

It was really a bad thing

it's one of
the worse things

I�ve seen in my
lifetime you know.

But l will tell you and every
trader will tell you

who was not in
that building

and who was buying gold
and who owned gold and silver

that when it happened

the first thing
you thought about was

well how much is gold up?

The first thing
that came to mind was

my god gold must
be exploding.

Fortunately for us all
our clients were in gold.

So when it went up they
all doubled their money.

They�ve all doubled
their money.

It was a blessing
in disguise.

Devastating you know
crushing heart shattering

but on the
financial sense

for my clients that
were in the market

they all made money.

Now I wasn�t looking
for this type of help

but it happened.

When the us bombed
Iraq back in 1991

the price of oil went
from $ 13 to $40 a barrel

for Christ sake!

Now we couldn�t wait
for the bombs

to start raining down
on Saddam Hussein.

We were all excited.

We wanted Saddam to
really create problems

Do whatever you
have to do

set fire to some
more oil wells

because the price is
going to go higher.

Every broker was
chanting that

there was not a broker
that I know of

that wasn�t
excited about that.

This was a disaster.

This was something
that was you know

catastrophe happening.

Bombing wars

In devastation there
is opportunity.

The pursuit of profit
is an old story

but there was a time when
many things were regarded

either as too sacred or too
essential for the public good

to be considered business
opportunities.

They were protected
by tradition

and public regulation.

We can really begin to take
a look at the emergence

of the modern age with
the enclosure movements

of the great European
commons in the fourteenth

fifteenth and
sixteenth century.

Medieval life uh was
a collectively lived life

It was a brutish
nasty affair.

But there was a collective
responsibility

People belonged to the land;

the land did not belong
to the people.

And in this
European world

people farmed the land
in a collective way

because they saw
it as a commons.

It belonged to God.

And then it was
administered by the church

the aristocracy

and then the local manors
as stewards of gods creation.

Beginning with Tudor England

we began to see
a phenomenon emerge

and that is the enclosure
of the great commons

by Parliamentary
Acts in England

and then in Europe.

And so first we began to
take the great landmasses

of the world

which were
commons and shared

and we reduced those
to private property.

Then we went after the oceans
the great oceanic commons

and we created laws
and regulations

that would allow countries

to claim a certain amount
of water outside

their coastal limits
for exploitation.

In this century we
went after the air

and we divided it
into air corridors

that could be bought
and sold

for commercial traffic
for airplanes.

And then of course
the rest is history.

With deregulation
privatization free trade

what we're seeing is
yet another enclosure

and if you like private
taking of the commons.

One of the things I find
very interesting

in our current debates

is this concept
of who creates wealth.

That wealth is only created
when it's owned privately.

What would you call
clean water fresh air

a safe environment?

Are they not
a form of wealth?

And why does it only become
wealth when some entity

puts a fence around it and
declares it private property?

Well you know that�s
not wealth creation.

That�s wealth usurpation.

Over the centuries

we have put more and more
things in that public realm

and lately just lately

in the last

lets say in the last
three or four decades

started pulling
them out again.

So fire-fighters
for instance.

Fire-fighters started
as private companies

and if you didn�t
have the medallion

of a given
fire-fighter brigade

on your house and
it was on fire

those fire-fighters
would just ride on by

because you didn�t
have a deal.

Well it gradually
evolved a public trust

for the provision of safety
on that very specific level.

This is important.

We should not go back
from that and start saying

well you know why don�t we
put that back in the market

and see what that does?

Maybe it will make
it more efficient

Privatization does not mean
you take a public institution

and give it
to some nice person.

It means you take a public
institution and give it

to an unaccountable tyranny.

Public institutions
have many side benefits

For one thing they may
purposely run at a loss.

They're not
out for profit.

They may purposely
run at a loss

because of the
side benefits.

So for example if a public
steel industry runs at a loss

it's providing cheap
steel to other industries

maybe that�s a good thing.

Public institutions can have
a counter cyclic property

So that means that they can
maintain employment

in periods of recession

which increases demand

which helps you
get out of recession.

Private companies cant
do that in a recession

throw out the work force cause
that�s the way you make money.

There are those who intend
that one day everything

will be owned by somebody

and we're not just
talking goods here.

We're talking human
rights human services

essential services for life.

Education public health
social assistance

pensions housing.

We're also talking about
the survival of the planet.

The areas that we believe
must be maintained

in the commons

or under common control
or we will collectively die

Water and air.

Even in the case of air
there�s been some progress

and that is the trading
of pollution permits.

And here the idea
is to say

look we cant avoid
the dumping of carbon dioxide.

We cant avoid the dumping
of sulphur oxides

at least we cant at the moment
afford to stopping it

so we're dumping a certain
amount of stuff

into the environment.

So we're going to say
with the current tonnage

of sulphur oxides
for example

we will say
that is the limit.

And well create
permits for that amount

and give them to the people
who�ve been doing the polluting

and now we will permit
them to be traded.

And so now there�s
a price attached

to polluting the environment.

Now wouldn�t it be marvellous
if we have one of those prices

for everything?

It sounds like you�re
advocating private ownership

of every square
inch of the planet.

Absolutely.

Every cubic foot
of air water.

It sounds outlandish to say

we want to have the
whole universe

the whole of
the earth owned.

That doesn�t mean I
want to have Joe Bloggs

owning this square foot.

But it means the interests that
are involved in that stream

are owned by some group

or by some people who have
an interest in maintaining it.

And that you know that
is not such a loony idea.

It's in fact the solution
to a lot of these problems.

Imagine a world in
which one of the things

owned by a corporation was
the song happy birthday.

In fact

an Aol/Time Warner subsidiary
holds the copyright.

In the past

it has demanded
over $ 10000

to allow you to hear anyone
sing this popular song

in a film.

We didn�t pay.

We preferred to use the money
to fly our crew to Boston

and Los Angeles to bring
you the following story

Comparing the marketing
of yesteryear

to the marketing of today

is like comparing
a b. b. gun to a smart bomb.

It's not the same
as when I was a kid

or even when the people

who are young adults
today were kids.

It's much more sophisticated
and it's much more pervasive.

It's not that products
themselves are bad or good.

It's the notion of
manipulating children

into buying the products.

In 1998 Western
International Media

Century City and Lieberman
Research Worldwide

conducted a study on nagging.

We asked parents to keep
a diary for three weeks

and to record every time

you could imagine

every time their child nagged
them for a product

we asked them to record
when where and why.

This study was not to
help parents cope with nagging.

It was to help corporations
help children nag

for their products
more effectively.

Anywhere form 20 percent
to 40 percent of purchases

would not have occurred

unless the child had
nagged their parents.

That is we
found for example

a quarter of all visits
to theme parks

wouldn�t have occurred unless
a child nagged their parents.

Four out of ten visits
to places like Chuck E. Cheese

would not have occurred.

And any parent would
understand that

you know when I
think of Chuck E. Cheese

oh my goodness
its noise.

And there�s
so many kids.

Why would I want to
spend two hours there?

But if the child nags
enough you 're going to go

We saw the same thing with
movies with home video

with fast food...

We do have to break
through this barrier

where they do tell us
or they say

they don�t like it
when their kid snag.

Well that�s just a general
attitude that they possess.

It doesn�t mean that they
necessarily act upon it

a 100 percent of the time.

You can manipulate
consumers into wanting

and therefore buying
your products.

It's a game.

Children are
not little adults;

their minds
aren�t developed.

And what�s happening is that
the marketers are playing

to their developmental
vulnerabilities.

The advertising that
children are exposed to today

is honed by psychologists;

it's enhanced by
media technology

that nobody ever
thought was possible.

The more insight you have
about the consumer

the more creative you�ll be in
your communication strategies.

So if that takes
a psychologist

yeah we want one
of those on staff.

I�m not saying it's wrong
to make things for children.

I also think its
important to distinguish

between psychologists who
work on products for children

to help you know toy
corporations make toys

that are developmentally
appropriate.

I think that�s great

that�s different
from selling the toys

directly to the children.

Initiative is huge.

I think in
the U. S. we place

about $ 12 billion
of media time.

So well put it on TV
well put it in print

well put it up in outdoor
well buy radio time;

so we're the biggest buyers of
advertising time and space

in the U. S.
and in the world.

One family cannot combat
an industry that spends

$ 12 billion a year trying
to get their children.

They cant do it.

They are tomorrows
adult consumers

To start talking with them now
build that relationship

when they�re younger...

And you�ve got
them as an adult.

Somebody asked me you
know Lucy is that ethical?

You know you�re essentially
manipulating these children.

Well yeah
is it ethical?

I don�t know.

But our role at initiative
is to move products

And if we know
you move products

with a certain
creative execution

placed in a certain
type of media vehicle

then we�ve
done our job.

Every institution
provides the people

who are members of it

with asocial
role to occupy

And typically institutions
that are vibrant

and have a lot of power
will specify that role

in some sense as
a list of virtues.

It's true for churches
for schools

for any institution that
has power over people

and shapes them.

The corporation likewise.

It provides us
with a list of virtues

a kind of social role

which is
the good consumer.

Like the waters
of the mighty ocean

people also represent
tremendous force

the understanding of which
is the greatest importance

to the American
way of life.

This force is known
as consumer power.

The goal for the corporations
is to maximize profit

and market share.

And they also have a goal
for their target

namely the population.

They have to be turned into
completely mindless consumers

of goods that
they do not want.

You have to develop what
are called created wants

So you have
to create wants.

You have to pose
on people what's called

a philosophy of futility.

You have to focus them

on the insignificant
things of life

like fashionable consumption.

I�m just basically quoting
business literature.

And it makes
perfect sense.

The ideal is to have
individuals

who are totally disassociated
from one another.

Who�s conception of
themselves the sense of value

is just how many created
wants can I satisfy?

These people are customers

because they are willing
to trade money for widgets.

And all the customers
take the widgets home

to all parts
of the country.

Look at all the money
the widget builder has

taken in from the sale
of his widgets.

We have huge industries
public relations industry

monstrous industry

advertising and so on
which are designed

from infancy to try
to mould people

into this desired pattern.

We saw
Tiger Woods on TV

with a hat
with a Nike logo on it

and we figured you know
he probably gets

like millions of dollars

just to wear the hat
on a press conference.

And therefore we figured we
can do that for someone else.

And hopefully get money in
time so we can go to school.

And that show we came up with
being corporately sponsored.

We made our sponsor
announcement

on the Today Show
on June 18

...were thrilled to be
sponsored by First U. S.A...

We're thrilled to be working with
first U. S.A as our corporate

sponsor and they�re covering
our college tuition...

...we found First U.S.A as our
sponsor and we're proud

to be working with them...

...our sponsor if First U. S.A

we're really thrilled
to announce First U.S.A

as our sponsor...

...we're thrilled to be
working with First U.S.A...

and so we give First U. S.A

a good name in the media

and include them
in our news stories

and through there

they get as much advertising
as we can give them.

They�ll be conforming

not to the wishes of
demanding parents

but to the wishes of an image
conscious corporation...

They�re not just out there for
the money and they�re just...

I mean they want
to work with us

and be our friends and let
us help them help us

and vice versa.

And we became
walking billboards

to pay for our
college tuition.

Cool Site of the day
picked us as a cool site

and Yahoo picked us and
we were in U.S.A Today.

When we did our photo
shoot for people magazine

This is where we
stood up on top.

We stood up here
and we smiled.

We smiled and
took the picture.

Our parents had war stories
and stuff to tell us.

We have our corporate
sponsor story.

Exactly.

I have a lot of faith
in the corporate world

because it's always
going to be there

so you may as well
have faith in it

because if you don�t
then it's just not good.

Some of the best
creative minds

are employed to
assure our faith

in the corporate
worldview.

They seduce us with corporate
beguiling illusions.

Designed to divert
our minds

and manufacture
our consent.

Corporations don�t advertise
products particularly;

they�re advertising
a way of life.

A way of thinking.

A story of who we are as people
and how we got here and

you know what�s the source
of our so called liberty

and so called freedom.

You know so you have decades
and decades and decades

of propaganda and
education

teaching us to think
in a certain way.

When applied to
the large corporation

it's that the corporation
is was inevitable

that it's indispensable

that it is somehow
remarkably efficient

and that it is responsible
for the sort of

for progress and
the good life.

Perception management is a
very interesting concept

It's basically a methodology

which helps us when
we work with our clients

to go through a very systematic
thoughtful process

in order to be able to
help our clients identify

what the resources are
that they have.

What the barriers to their
success are

and how we can use
communications

to help them accomplish
their objectives.

If Michael or Angelica came
tome and said

Dad what do you do
and why is it important?

My answer to that question
is basically

that I help corporations
have a voice.

And I help corporations
share the point of view

about how they
feel about things.

They�re selling
themselves

they�re selling
their domination

they�re selling
their rule

and they�re creating
an image for themselves

as just regular folks
down the block.

Hi how
y'all doing today?

Good to see you.

How are you doing today?

Hi how you
doing today?

We're from Pfizer.

We're your neighbours.

You're in the new houses?

Are you in the new houses?

Ohhhhhh!

These are some neighbours.

Can we say hello?

Can we say hello
just for a minute?

So what do you think
of the neighbourhood now?

It's all right
it's good.

Yeah l think it�s been
getting better

over the last 20years
that I�ve been coming here.

Yeah

So I think together you
know working with you

and Pfizer and our
other partnership

well make this
a better place.

Okay.

Okay nice to see
you Miss Fraser bye.

There used to be a lot
of crime at this subway.

One night as I was going
home I got caught

and was almost mugged.

So we decided
to make a change

to make
this community better.

We're looking
at turnstiles

that prevent fare beating.

It used to be you could
just hop right over.

So Pfizer in collaboration
with the transit authority

actually purchased
these machines.

This is a talkback box
that allows us to speak

to the Pfizer guard

which is approximately
500yards from here.

Now I haven�t seen
the Pfizer guard today

but I�m going to see
if I can call him.

If he�s not I'll have
to go wake him up.

Hello.

Hello.

Tom Kline speaking.

So I'm sure

before we're through
hell call back.

But particularly
on the off-hours

this allows a passenger
to call directly

to the Pfizer
desk for assistance.

And then the Pfizer guard
calls the transit police

and the transit police respond
to any crime situation.

As a result of all this
crime is down in that station.

It's much safer for
our community partners.

Thank you.

I'll press the other button
just to be sure...

Well go over and
talk to him personally.

It's tough you know
they�re putting

some taxpayer shareholder
money into helping

and who can say?

But that money should be
going to the taxpayers

to decide what to do.

And while they�re doing
those sorts of nice things

they�re also playing a role in
lowering taxes for corporations

and lowering taxes
for wealthy people

and reconfiguring
public policy.

And what we don�t see is all
that reconfiguring going on;

we don�t see all that
vacuuming up of money

vacuuming out the insides
of public processes

but we do see
the nice fa�ade.

When I was researching
the takeover of public space

when I started off I thought
okay this is just advertising.

We�ve always had advertising.

It's just more advertising.

But what l started
to understand

and what I
understand now

is that branding if not
advertising its production.

The very
successful corporations

the corporations of the future
do not produce products.

They produced
brand meaning.

The dissemination of
the idea of themselves

is their act of production.

And the dissemination of
the idea of themselves

is an enormously
invasive project

so how do you
make a brand idea?

Well a good place to
start is by building

a three dimensional
manifestation of your brand.

For accompany like Disney

it goes even further

where it's actually building
a town Celebration Florida.

Currently there are
about 5000 residents

who call Celebration home.

And there are about 1300
single-family homes

a town centre that�s a place
where people gather.

It has about four
or five restaurants

and about a dozen
other shops.

Their inspiration
their brand image

is the all American family.

And the sort of
by gone American town.

Their brand driver is family
magic and everything

that the company does is in
and around those two words.

If you take that

a branded environment
such as a Disney World

or a Disneyland is a logical
extension of that brand.

Film animated film
family oriented film;

it's a very logical
extension of that.

As a business though

they also know that
if they want to get

into other forms of
entertainment

that does not fit
family magic

they do not brand
it Disney.

If they want to get
into adult

more serious type fare

when it comes to film
they brand it Touchstone.

Disney brand
speaks of reassurance

it speaks of tradition
it speaks of quality.

And you can see that here

in this community
that we�ve built.

And that�s where you
see the truly imperialist

aspirations of branding
which is about building

these privatized
branded cocoons.

Which maybe you start
by shopping in

and then you continue
by holidaying in

but eventually why
not just move in.

What happens if we
wake up one day

and we find out that virtually
all of our relationships

that are mediated between
us and our fellow human beings

are commercial?

We find out that virtually
every relationship we have

is a commercially
arbitrated relationship

with our fellow human being?

Can civilization survive on
that narrow a definition

of how we interact
with each other?

Wow what a dream...

I can give you the day
in the life of a person

who might be the target
of undercover marketing.

And I will
tell you this

that some of these things
are happening right now

around you.

So you walk out of your
building in the morning

in some city

and you walk by
the doorman and say

hey good morning!

And you notice there�s a
bunch of boxes at his feet

from some on line
or mail order retailer.

And there�s a bunch of boxes
there with of course

big brand message on it.

You walk out
and wonder

a lot of people must be
ordering from that company.

Well what you don�t know is
that we paid the doorman

to keep those
empty boxes there.

You walk out
into the street

and you hear some people
having kind of a loud conversation

about a musical act

and they are passing
headphones back and forth

and going
this is great!

Hey do you know that I heard
this C D is really hard to find

but I heard they
sell it at store X.

You hear that and
you register it

and you might kind
of pick up on that

and may be later
on you�ll think

hey I wonder what the
hot act is bang

that might be in your head.

Now you get
into your office

and there�s a certain brand
of water in the refrigerator.

What is that?

You take it out you drink
you slug it down it's there

not really
thinking about it.

Wow!

That�s pretty good water.

Who knows?

Maybe someone placed
the water there

You kind of go out
for your lunch break

you�re sitting in the park and
people are kind of out there

talking in the
park and bang

all of a sudden you
hear another message.

By the time you go to bed
you've probably received

eight or nine different
undercover messages.

People are always thinking

well oh I know
product placement.

That�s when they
put stuff in movies!

Well yes kind of.

I mean that�s definitely
traditional product placement.

But real life product
placement is just that:

Placing stuff in movies but
the movie�s actually your life

Well take a group
of attainable

but still
inspirational people

they are not supermodels

they are kind of
people just like you

they�re doing
something for us

whether they are having
a certain kind of drink

or they are using
a certain laundry detergent

whatever it may be.

They are kind of the
roach motel if you will

People are going
to come over to them

and they are
going to give them

this little piece
of brand bait.

It could be a sound bite
of knowledge or a ritual.

Consumers will get that
piece of roach bait

then they
would take it.

Oh pretty cool!

Then they go out and
spread it to their friends.

If you want to be critical

if you want to go through
your life like that

sure be critical
of every single person

that walks up to you.

But if they are showing
you something that fits

and something that works

and something that makes
your life better in some way

well then who cares.

We again
just say thanks!