Over the weekend, a friend asked me to share some "iconic, original and effective CSR 'moonshot' campaigns/programs - Let's Talk, Jumpstart, etc."
I wanted to think beyond just the typical corporate CSR programs, and in doing so, I felt myself coming back to the question of *what is* CSR now, *what can* it be, and how does it fit within the broader ESG frame?
Does it need to be ongoing, massively funded and holistic to be relevant? Are 'stunts' valuable if they provocatively share only the brand's point of view with the world? How much utility does the program need to provide to be seen as worthy vs. simply expressing that point of view?
And in a world slightly less obsessed with brand purpose than 4-5 years ago, is this where a brand's purpose lives for now, while brands get back to focusing on more measurable near term business results?
Or can the best do it all?
What follows is far from an exhaustive list, but a range that came to mind.
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Toms Shoes/One For One - https://lnkd.in/g9z-QsN5
-Incredibly fresh and motivating at the time, proved to not be scalable
The Patagonia Trust - patagonia.ca/ownership
-Simple, brave, contentious
The TD Ready Commitment - https://lnkd.in/gyHuCj4C
-Hugely funded, incredibly broad, but does the bank get enough credit for it?
REI's Black Friday - rei.com/opt-outside
-Began as an extremely fresh stunt, then morphed into a broader program
Starlink's Ukraine Support - https://lnkd.in/g_V6Umbr
-a powerful brand, providing geopolitical utility, is this CSR?
Starbucks Anti-Bias Training - https://lnkd.in/g6k_Xsii
-a big brand 'act', was it more stunt than progress?
Patagonia 1% - https://lnkd.in/gvVvNYwU
-smart, simple, and a movement other brands can and have joined
Dove Real Beauty - https://lnkd.in/gtU8sSDJ
-necessary, deeply connected to the product, not without its controversy
Canopy Growth Impaired Driving - https://lnkd.in/gbcJZQSc
-a fresh way to lead the conversation and mitigate risk when cannabis was legalized in Canada
McDonald's/Ronald McDonald House - rmhccanada.ca
-a hugely valuable institution, an idea deeply connected to family
Waffle House Storm Monitoring - https://lnkd.in/gSDghSmS
-another example of corporates supporting important government work
Tim Horton's Timbits - https://lnkd.in/gMFJ5-Ms
-lovely brand connection, always fun to see, incredibly Canadian
