Blog 3: Criticisms of Generosity Water's CRM

Any time an organization sets up a cause-related marketing campaign, it will struggle with backlash from a sceptical audience. People are protective about their money and they are even more protective about being scammed by charities promising to help others. This means that an organization must work to provide transparent information to their consumers and provide the most efficient funding plan possible.

One criticism of Generosity Water is that they are based in California. In general, one of the difficulties with cause-related marketing is that you have to convince your audience that you are succeeding in providing a benefit to a cause. California is currently in talks to have restrictions placed on their daily water consumption due to frequent droughts and I feel like it may be difficult to convince Californians that selling their water to people in other countries is beneficial at that current time. The website provides a link to an article explaining how they are preventing harm to the state’s water source and promises that “We will soon be opening up additional manufacturing locations in other parts of the US and even around the world”. I appreciated the research done around this problem however, I still feel like Southern California is an odd place for an organization to take water from. It is important to provide water to those in other countries, however California struggles with water shortage on a yearly basis and it could be argued that they too are suffering from the Global Water Crisis. California might be willing to contribute to a good cause, however I wonder if they are the right target audience for this campaign.

Generosity Water’s impact map

Another problem with this organization’s cause-related marketing tactic is that the section on their website that lists their currently funded projects, was unavailable. The world map that apparently listed the projects on the website was not working. Though this might have been a small IT issue, it could make a massive difference for the organization’s credibility. One of the first things I look for when thinking about donating to an organization, especially with cause-related marketing, is that I look for the impact the organization has already made. It is one thing to promise your consumers that you will provide people with water; it is another to actually make a difference. This is especially true after the campaign KONY 2012. KONY 2012 initially promised that if consumers purchased a kit for a set amount of money, they would be able to capture the warlord Kony. Though they initially set out as an awareness campaign, people bought several packages believing that their money would be put to good use. The organization Invisible Children has since closed down and although the organization did bring awareness to the problem, many people criticized it for its lack of action.

I believe that Generosity Water could also correct their cause-related marketing strategy by changing the location of their water source and correcting issues around their currently funded projects. People generally need to see the credibility around an organization and will look to see if the cause-related marketing program is actually effective. Without these changes, the organization could suffer greatly from its lack of awareness.

Generosity Plastic Bottles

Cause-related marketing (CRM) has the potential to be highly successful and provide many benefits to the cause they are aiming to promote and support. However, there are often cases when the organization fails to be genuine and make a positive impact on this chosen cause. Often this is due to hypocrisy or disingenuous CRM activity. I believe that there is a paradoxical relationship between Generosity Water’s CRM campaign and their chosen cause of providing safe water.

My main criticism of this CRM involves the organization’s use and promotion of plastic water bottles. While Generosity Water’s plastic bottles are recyclable, this does not mean that their use comes without consequence. Each piece of plastic recycled poses a potential environmental threat. The recycling process is accomplished through melting down used plastics, requiring large amounts of heat, resulting in the emission of fumes known as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). The heat requirements as well as the VOC imputed, is known to cause considerable harm to plant and animal life as well as contribute to the growing problem of climate change.

These harmful fumes also negatively impact the health of people who may come into contact with either the direct fumes, or recycled plastic. I would argue that this is a major pitfall for consumers, the cause as well as the organization. These plastics may put people into direct contact harmful chemicals such as BPA and DEHP. These chemicals can potentially lead to an increased risk of miscarriage, a variety of cancers, as well as harm towards children who are in their developmental stages.

It should also be noted that recyclable does not equate recycled. Research has shown that only 30 per cent of the six billion pounds of plastic bottles that are thrown out annually are actually recycled, even if they are made to be recycled. To add insult to injury, only 20 per cent of the bottles actually recycled are reused to create new and more eco-friendly bottles.

The problem unfortunately does not stop there. The production of plastic bottles actually contributes to the global water crisis. Safe water sources are limited, and need to be used with caution. To create one pound of plastic, approximately 22 gallons of water are required. This is incredibly concerning. Based on these findings, it can be assumed that to create the bottles that are thrown out, it would require 132,000,000,000 gallons of water.

Water Bottle Pollution

Through the production and use of plastic water bottles, I believe that Generosity Water is hypocritical in its actions due to these harmful impacts, and is conducting a form of “pinkwashing”; a main mission for Generosity Water is to help bring an end to the global water crisis through providing water to those who cannot access potable water. By reducing the amount of water available through plastic production and contributing to environmental issues such as the pollution of oceans, and potentially harming those it provides water to, Generosity Water is actually contributing to the harm it seeks to reduce.  

To improve the status of their CRM campaign, I suggest that Generosity Water replaces its plastic bottles for a material that carries less health and environmental risks, such as glass. I think this would better drive home their mission for sustainability, longevity, and aiding in global water issues.