Firefox to access dating site OK Cupid, you’ll be met by the above
message urging you to choose another browser.
This strikes me as an interesting and appropriate way for a
company to lobby for change without resorting to regulations or
calling for government action to limit people’s choices or ban
something. (Side note: Reading about this on Buzzfeed caused me to open Firefox for
the first time in years.)
Whether you agree or disagree with OK Cupid’s stance on this
particular issue (I’m in favor of marriage equality myself), I
think most people can appreciate the way in which the company is
acting here. If nothing else, this sort of action complicates the
idea that corporations or businesses can’t have “personality” or
take stances on things, kinda/sorta like real people, doesn’t it?
We ascribe intention to businesses all the time, based on their
practices and leadership.
I’m curious as to the responses of conservatives, who often say
they want the government out of our lives but tend to be against
marriage equality, and of liberals, who often say that corporations
should be “socially responsible” but then harp on businesses that
have conservative identities (Dominos, anyone, or Hobby
Lobby?).
I am also curious as to how individuals decide when a company’s
policies or personnel choices rise to such a level that you will
stop buying its goods or services. After all, one of the great
things about markets is that they allow people to trade with
relative or absolute strangers and they don’t force single
standards of anything on the folks involved. Lord knows it would be
punishing to have to agree with every merchant or customer on every
issue before a deal could be struck.
Thoughts on this? Hit the comments!
I wrote about corporate social responsibility (CSR) in light of
Apple CEO Tim Cook’s statement that climate-change skeptics should
sell the company’s stock for Time. Read
that here.
And read Reason’s classic 2005 debate on CSR with Whole Foods’
John Mackey, Cypress Semiconductor’s T.J. Rodgers, and Nobel
laureate Milton Friedman
here.
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