i’m still mad about it

Again, from Michael Grynbaum, here is Sharyn Alfonsi's full email.

It must be read:

the grey ace rep was So Good tho 😭

are there high quality brands out there that leave it as terry fabric? it’s not only the preferred of many (i’m “many”) but all some of us (i’m also “some of us) will wear. Sensory issues 🥲

fewer corners to stub your toe on

Reputation laundering is the smokescreen of Doing Good to distract from your sins.

Ethics laundering is the smokescreen of Contracting Out your sins to a less-ethical business.

both are beloved by real companies across the globe, not just the fictional Wonka Industries. don’t buy into either.

“How is this different from reputation laundering?” Don’t worry, Wonka does reputation laundering too. Wonka regularly donates large sums of money to important charities doing important work. Their employees run charity drives. They give back to the community, massively.

THAT’s ethics laundering.

because it sure seems to me like all Wonka has done is handed its dirty work of oppression to Known Unethical Companies, who treat their enterprise customers like kings & their workers & anyone not wealthy like shit. Umbrella & Stark are Wonka’s sin-eaters.

But are they? If Wonka is allocating resources meant for support & infrastructure over to unethical corps, how is that any different from hiring those same workers & buying the same infrastructure (w/o overhead) and paying&treating them the same as Umbrella&Stark, then gifting the leftover $ to U&S?

….sure, Umbrella Corp and Stark Industries collude with Soylent and Acme on the reg, but they don’t step on Wonka’s toes (& keep this contract quiet, too) & Wonka’s investors are happy about the rising stock prices. And customers are delighted to support an Ethical Company. One of the Good Guys.