How to Positively Influence Our World: From Starbucks to Cherry Tomatoes
By TLB Contributing Author: Ken LaRive
Two examples of changing this world.
Sure, voting seems to be the primary way to take back this country from a dominate bureaucracy, but nothing is more of a catalyst for change then to gain an effective control of the purse. When you have the ability to affect a bottom line, influence grows. All of us can shape this world, one way or the other… For instance, if you do not like violence at the movies, or an immoral affirmation they promote, do not buy it. We can instigate lasting and positive changes everywhere, if we push in the right direction… and just the opposite is true if you do nothing at all. Even that has a weight all its own…
Starbucks
A good example to consider is the mega-coffee chain, Starbucks, who have, and for years, promoted a very leftist, Progressive agenda. It is a great illustration of what we can do if we stand together in a common cause, from the company, its workers, to the consumer. It shows that each, in turn, have consequences, and that these consequences are hard to undo.
Starbucks does a lot more than sell a cup of coffee, they are indeed activists. They are Progressive in nature, and take stands on many very controversial issues.
The following shows the effects of using your business to promote a controversial idea:
Starbucksgun stance: Do you support chain’s new stand on weapons?
Starbuckstakes a stand against the government shutdown…
Starbucks’ Debt Ceiling Campaign and 5 Moreof Its Pointless Stunts…
Starbucks Has a Response to PresidentTrump’s Immigration Ban: Hire 10,000 Refugees
Starbucks Offering Free Legal Advice toEmployees on Trump’s Executive Order
HAH! Starbucks’ Stock Plummets After CEOTrashes Trump
Starbucks’ ‘Brand Perception’ Takes A Massive HitAfter Announcing Plans To Hire 10,000 Refugees…
Note: Starbucks has announced yesterday that they are planning to open many more stores both here and abroad, and that they want to hire vets to man them. Is this too little, too late? Many think so. This indicates that what they promote is entirely for economic gain, catering to some form of customer base, with little regard for the moral and ethical implications they have promoted in the past. Even with this startling turn of events, there are many who will never buy another cup of coffee from Starbucks. In the minds of many, The Starbucks brand name recognition is a negative, and both x-customers and investors are realizing that might not change. Some folks just can’t forgive, or forget, and that old universal law comes to play: what you sow is what you reap.
One more very small example of what can be accomplished if we just try…
I do all of the grocery shopping and cooking in my home, and have worked in management in grocery stores, when the oil-patch has taken a dive. It is a tough business for a manager, and they want to keep customers happy. One mistake, with a 1 percent bottom line, can do real damage to the company, and get you fired as well. I have a great respect for the people who have aspired to work in that business. It takes hard work and dedication to move up… Not everyone is cut out for that…
Cherry tomatoes…
A few years ago I bought some organic cherry tomatoes from my local grocery store. It was packaged beautifully with a hard, impact resistant, clear plastic top, with a snap-on bottom that fit perfectly together, to be reused in the refrigerator. When I opened it, however, I noticed that the bottom, hidden by a sticker, was a void. It was a false bottom, an appendage well hidden by the product. I felt that I had been slighted… that it was a form of false advertising. I also decided to try and change the packaging, so with my concerns fresh in my mind, I called the 800 number on the package and asked to speak to the manager. In essence I said this…
“First I want to say I like your product. The tomatoes are organic, fresh, perfectly ripened, and have a great taste. But when I opened the package I saw that there was a void in the middle, a plastic tongue that made the package look full. It left me thinking I had been played. I’m wondering if other people feel the same, and that it may be harming your business.”
His Reply:
“Well, thank you so much for your thoughts on this. I will mention it in our next meeting, and see what can be done.”
I thanked him, and hung up. Two weeks later I was in the same grocery store, and turned that tomato package over, pealing the sticker off. The void was gone, and I was floored. Did I actually do that? The price was a few cents more, but there were at least five more cherry tomatoes. I have been buying that brand ever since, and they are now sold in every grocery store I shop.
“Yes sir, I don’t know if you were right, but business has been great.” -The owner of that produce company, in my follow-up call.
My Parting Shot …
ARTICLE SOURCE
Ken LaRive – Facets: It’s a simple but beautiful metaphor. Our soul is likened to an uncut diamond, pure, perfect, and unrealized. Each learned experience cleaves a facet on its face, and leaves it changed forever. Through this facet, this clear window, new light, new questions and ideas take shape and form. This process is our reason for being …
More information about Ken LaRive.
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