Now the colors of CSR have made ethical business fashionable. When the mainstream joins with rock stars to increase business while improving the world, the win-win-win proposition of ethical business practices makes it hard for everyone to resist. Consumers today want more than to be stylish, they, no WE want to know that our hard-earned money can be doing good on our behalf. Or at the very least, not harming our world any further.

(RED) helps raise money for The Global Fund which helps women and children affected by AIDS/HIV in Africa. By partnering with apparel giants such as GAP, Emporio Armani and Converse as well as other huge corporations, they attract customers, increase sales and consumer perception and make money as well.

Marks & Spencer’s Plan A (because there is no Plan B) has chosen the five key areas to make their business both more sustainable and kinder to the environment: Climate Change, Waste, Sustainable Raw Materials, Health and being a Fair Partner. But not only do customers get to feel virtuous, this sort of consumer-driven trend has repercussions in the supply chain, which is where Garments Without Guilt comes in. By making ethical sourcing irresistible, the lives of the factory workers and the surrounding communities are improved too.

These companies are certainly not alone. But is this just an advertising angle? Is the public merely being manipulated to increase profits? In Bono’s interview on CNN (see link above) he explained.

“We want them to make profits. We want them to get more customers, that’s the whole point. We’re not thinking in the old ways about philanthropy and we’re not wanting them to be anything other than what they are–businesses. And they have responsibilities to their shareholders. We think this will bring them more customers. We think more people will go and buy Armani. We want that. And if that happens, everyone wins here… Will there be occasionally a company that’s in this who are black-hearted and looking for a halo? Yes. Does it matter to the people who are getting the drugs? No. It’s commerce, raw commerce.”

Is this a trend being used to edge out the competition? Or is this the new standard?