Companies need to learn that legions of PR weasels, global corporate responsibility initiatives and millions of dollars worth of marketing often make us think even less of them than we did to begin with. We’ve seen enough of it by now that when McDonald’s or Wal-Mart start launching major campaigns to prove to the world how gosh darn lovable, kind and benevolent they are, we see it for what it is: obsequious Eddie Haskel mode until we look away long enough for them to start their trouble-making again. The small human gestures companies make are usually worth a lot more.
