one.point.zero - Colin O'Brien's weblog
April 08 2007
They say we’re shopping too much. Then again, on the other side, some people are making their own. Personally, if I could just buy fairly-made items that don’t disintegrate after a year I’d be happy camper.
February 13 2007
It’s not easy being green.
October 16 2006
Viral or non-ethical marketing?
A supposedly new bank has been doing some heavy promo throughout Brussels for a while. First with bill posters in the usual places and some advertising in the free press, now with an “office” on the Place de la Monnaie/Muntplein.
This outfit is basically selling itself as a non-ethical investment bank. Placing your money in such great causes as weapons trade, post-war/disaster reconstruction (Halliburton), Wal-Mart, etc. Appealing to those people who like to be different by giving society the finger, or those who just don’t care. I don’t know…
Hell, most banks do that anyway. They just don’t use it as a key selling point.
For what it’s worth, the design just looks too hip to be a bank to begin with. The only phone number is a Belgian mobile one, pretty strange for a Europe-wide organisation. And they’ve made sure their origins are difficult to trace.
It smells of viral marketing from a mile away. I don’t know who’s behind it or what they’re promoting, but there’s a lot of money being thrown at this one.
update 17/10: It’s a stunt by Netwerk Vlaanderen to expose unethical investing by Belgian banks.
September 04 2006
Rob Hopkins on peak oil survivalists“I deeply question the morality of responding to a crisis by running in the opposite direction and leaving everyone else to stew.”
July 25 2006
People don’t care much about sweatshops but they “might” if the information was accessible…
June 08 2006
Can Green Companies Keep Their Soul When Sold? If, for example, I buy ethically-produced items that finance animal-testing in another division, then I’d say no.