In class, we have been discussing corporate social responsibility and the different things corporations can do to improve their image in the eyes of consumers.

Today, you will investigate a corporation’s reaction to a major gaffe.

A gaffe is an unintentional action or remark causing embarrassment to it’s originator. i.e. a blunder.

Tasks:

1: Find a gaffe that has received national or international media attention.

2: Describe the chronology and cause of the gaffe

3: Describe the immediate reaction to the gaffe: Public outcry, bad press, drop in sales, legal proceedings etc.

4: Describe the corporation’s reaction to the gaffe: how they solved the problem AND what they did to restore their corporate image in the eyes of their consumers.

5: In your opinion, how successful was the corporation’s response? Is the company’s image still tarnished? Are sales back to their pre-gaffe levels? Higher? Explain your answer

Assessment: Criterion B

1. The Corporation: This documentary film was made after the US Supreme court reorganized some corporations rights to be the same as those of people. (Corporations could be sued, or file lawsuits, as individuals, detached from their owners and workers.) The filmmakers then pondered the kind of person a corporation would be, based on past actions, by analyzing their actions as a psychiatrist would.

• As you watch the clip, how is music and tone of language used? What bias do you think the documentary might have?
• Why does the documentary repeat the phrase “bad apples”? Are there other metaphors used in the clip?
• What images does the filmaker use? Why does the filmaker choose to use this imagery?
• How is “corporation” defined?

• As you watch the video, list the infractions committed by Nike and its contractors, and group them in categories related to the Definition of CSR we have studied.