Blood Money
- Money talks. It sugarcoats unpleasantness and corrodes resolve. But it doesn’t ease guilt.
Action
I’m sacking a client.
Well, letting them die on the vine, really. I’m too gutless to tell them.
They’re bright, polite, appreciative and humble.
Their work is fascinating, they pay in seconds and they write beautiful Christmas cards.
So why must they go?
Uranium.
They don’t deal with it, but one of their clients does.
I fear being asked to write for that client.
Reason
Why am I afraid?
Because I’m not sure my morals outweigh my greed.
You see, I’ve been here before.
Background
When I was a salaried copywriter, I was told to write for an energy firm with a poor reputation.
When I refused, it was made clear that my job was at stake.
I took the brief and spent four days trolling the internet for redeeming material.
On finding wind and solar credentials, I was able to write a genuinely green ad. Luckily, the client loved it.
My star ascended. I wrote for tin mines, zinc mines, coal mines, copper mines, bauxite mines … you name it.
Then, one day, a uranium mine.
Regret
As soon as I finished this job, I felt awful. I’d finally snapped my elastic moral tether.
I donated my ill-gotten gains. I joined environment groups. I sponsored a child from Swaziland.
Nothing could make me feel better.
Yet despite all this, after 14 months of GFC, with a fully redrawn home loan, I worry that if I get the call, I’ll do it all again.
I once read a haunting quote. I can’t find it now and would be grateful if you know it. It went something like:
I fear for humanity. For though I’m one of the better ones, I know how bad I am.
Resolve
In a recent comment, one of our readers admitted to an unethical sale.
He only did it once; I wish to act likewise.
That’s why I’m ‘sacking’ my client.
This is quite a mea culpa.
Though I don’t expect to be inundated, I sure could use the company.
Do you have blood on your hands?
Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire
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Okay, I’m confused. Why is a company that mines uranium worse than a company that mines iron ore, or copper, or tin?
Good companies and bad companies are defined on their actions, not what they mine.
Sorry, Merrilee, I see I should have explained. I’m against uranium mining because I believe it is a dangerous and incorrect power source. By writing an ad for a uranium mine, I felt that I had compromised my morals.
I’ve since sacked ALL my mining clients and no longer write for ANY mines. This is because of their woeful environmental track record.
Yet I still own a car and many other products that are the result of mining. I realised I was going to look like a complete hypocrite by bagging all miners, so I tried to limit the scope of this discussion to uranium.
Sorry for the confusion! Thank you for your very useful comment. P.
No blood on these hands – because like you – I’ve done exactly the same thing. As I say you can’t buy your way into heaven by donating to every charitable cause out there in the belief that you can continue doing wrong.
The last paragraph sums up my view on life – http://itaintalwaysso.blogspot.com/2009/10/liar-liar-pants-on-fire.html
Sorry No.3 – should read You CAN’T buy your way into heaven………
Sorry if I offended anyone
Wow, I_enigma, that post of yours is fantastic. What a great roadmap for the future.
I see the Vatican is bringing back indulgences:
http://motherjones.com/catholic-church/2009/02/catholic-church-brings-indulgences-back
Man, would they go well on eBay or what?!
Just fixed it, I_enigma. Does that read correctly now?
A more venerable source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indulgence
Yes thank-you Paul – all fixed!
I can’t make comment in relation to the church – no matter what denomination – and I shall leave it at that
That makes much more sense.
Thanks, Merrilee. I read these posts a dozen times, but I can’t beat fresh eyes like yours for the necessary perspective.
Hi Paul,
Just a few thoughts:
1. I hope your client does not read this blog and find out you are sacking them.
2. If you have a good client who happens to have a client that you do not approve of, aren’t you making a judgement about your client when you do not know the circumstances.
3. You are making a decsion based on what might happen in the future. If they were to ask you, you could quite easily say they are not part of your target market which is true.
4. If they are a good client and you no longer want to work with them don’t you think you should tell them the truth?
Thanks for sharing as always Paul.
Hi, Susan.
These are AWFULLY good points!
I was afraid someone like you would take me to task.
1. I hope so too. I wish I were braver.
2. True. The thing that tipped me over was that new acid-leach mine they’re planning. You drill a hole in one spot, pour in heaps of acid, recover the dissolved ore from another hole and hope the acid doesn’t poison the entire water table.
3. True. My act stems from cowardice.
4. Refer #3.
You sure got me a beauty there, Susan; but all these things need to be said.
Thank YOU!
Hi Paul,
I definitely was not taking you to task. The thing is you are making a business judgement about something that may never happen. What if you get rid of this good client and 2 months down the track you hear the uranium mine is no longer a client of theirs? I guess I do not understand why you can’t wait and see.
Also would have a market or companies you want to work. That naturally narrows it down from anyone who pays to a tightly targetted niche so it is not cowardice to legitmately say they are not in your niche.
I do appreciate that, Susan.
I’m a worrier. I think I’m erring on the side of caution; using a sledgehammer to kill a fly. That sort of thing.
It seems pretty precious to have written for all those mining firms, just to draw the line at one unfashionable element.
The irony is, I’m now having the exact conversation I so wished to avoid! I should’ve bitten the bullet and spoken to the client.
I’d like to spend my days writing for sustainable, eco-friendly clients.
I rather felt I was carving out a niche, but my instrument of choice appears to have mutated from a scalpel into a dredger!
Viciously frank as always Paul. I reckon if we all start delving too deeply here, then we’re all in trouble, except maybe the Dalai Lama. Unless he buys his natty orange garb from the sweatshop. I’ve written some copy for the defense forces that I wish I hadn’t. I read yesterday that the manufacturer of this computer I’m on has been widely criticised for poor labour practices in developing countries. Blood money rules because there’s always someone willing to make a dollar howsoever they can. Always. Good that you seek to step away where you can.
As an aside, Garrett Hardin called this type of problem (morals vs greed) ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’ in a famous essay from 1968 http://dieoff.org/page95.htm.
‘… the rational herdsman concludes that the only sensible course for him to pursue is to add another animal to his herd. And another … But this is the conclusion reached by each and every rational herdsman sharing a commons. Therein is the tragedy. Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit – in a world that is limited.’
Money. Blood. Radioactive cows. I see a theme developing here.
Thank you Adam. This excercise has certainly put me off my lunchtime smoothie.
That essay looks fascinating. I’ll read it with interest as soon as I’ve finished plucking this bird of paradise. Damn thing won’t keep still…
Throw in some cockroaches and a gate and we’ll have a new kids’ series in no time! Best regards, P.
Dear Mr. Radioactive Blood Money,
You certainly have ‘hit the button’ on this one ol’ Bean…and indeed, even with the ’smanciest’ equipment and expert advice, predicting the fall-out yet remains a ‘best guess’.
I believe that I have license to speak as someone who has not only made such decisions, but also experienced and survived (so far and in a manner), the fall-out.
One of my favourite movies is now a relatively ‘oldie’, but a damn goodie…it’s called ‘To Die For’. It starred Nicole Kidman and Matt Dillon. In this movie Nicole’s character said the following:
“What’s the point of doing anything good if there’s nobody watching?”
[Insert Global Business Community and Hollywood Here]
Trust me when I say this mate…if you do this for anything other than the truth within your own heart, you will not survive the fall-out…nor will you sleep well…
The cost of my choices was everything…and I mean everything. I was homeless, family-less, friendless and penniless for quite a while…not an easy thing in one’s mid-forties.
What allowed me to survive such fall-out? I didn’t make my choices for ‘recognition’ or to prove a point. I made them because they felt true to me….and it still hurt like Hell.
Now it’s easy to rationalise such notions and try to convince myself using strategies such as that which Susan has deftly illustrated. And I do not intend to be demeaning in any way Susan. I’m simply using one of your sentences to illustrate what for me is a fatal mistake that too many of us make daily, expending huge amounts of energy trying to convince ourselves and others that our decisions are ‘legitimate’ or ‘true’ or ‘good business’, ‘good government’, ‘good spiritual guidance’ and on and on….:
“That naturally narrows it down from anyone who pays to a tightly targetted niche so it is not cowardice to legitmately say they are not in your niche.”
The world of is full of people ‘legitimately’ saying and doing things. But as I said in a recent article of mine:
“The only thing missing on a large scale is a bit of ‘actual’ good will! You know? Doing ‘the right thing’? Fairness? Not ripping the guts out of your ‘fellow man’, just because you can and/or are legally ‘within your rights’?”
I’m trying to draw a distinction between what is ‘true’ and what is ‘legitimate’ and to highlight the ’strategies’ that we use daily to rationalise the most insidious little acts in these names.
What does it mean when I’m a failure because my small business collapsed for the sake of about $25,000.00 in cash-flow that I couldn’t raise from the same banks that saw fit to loan me enough to start the business? What does it mean when these same banks are celebrated on National News, almost every night, for securing annual profits in excess of $6 Billion from a working population of just under 11 Million people ( http://abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6202.0 )? Yep! It’s ‘legitimate’…but is it ‘right’?
Anyway, I reckon that’ll do for my 2 bobs worth…
Cheers
Stephen G
Once again you honour me with your response, Stephen.
I was just thinking that, in trying to be funny, I didn’t acknowledge Adam’s personal admission. (Sorry, Ad).
Then you come along with this treatise. I’ve been missing your contributions keenly. It’s great to have you back!
I feel your pain Paul. I do. But you might be surprised what positive outcomes may result from being totally up-front with the client regarding your concerns.
If nothing else, you can free yourself of the worry you’re having now. Constructive confrontation etc…
Thanks, Stephen H. I feel like a cad. But at least I’m purging my nasty surprises, that future clients can approach me with full knowledge (if not confidence). I appreciate your wise words.
G’day mate
Actually, I reckon Adam said it better. I didn’t see his excellent post until after I had posted mine…but hey! Ya get that
I haven’t been far away mate…just busy. I’ve had a very promising door open up for me and I’m working towards making good use of it.
Geez! After all this battling and rebuilding and waiting and stuff, I reckon folks might reasonably be wondering if these noSh-it! Wood-Fired Pizzas are good enough to warrant all this ‘caffufle’?…
In the words of one of our National icons:
“Oh! Don’t you worry about that!”
(Joh Bjelke Petersen – Qld Premier 1968-1987) ;-P
Cheers
Stephen G
Good show, Stephen G! I’ve been waiting for Episode V, The Anchovies Strike Back.
Hi Paul:
Unfortunately, I can’t offer advice–only commiseration.
I let go of a client when I learned their company sold pesticides.
I will also refuse work for any company involved in factory farmed meat, because of environmental and humanitarian issues.
These are black-and-white cases for me.
But other cases are “gray.” Pharmaceutical companies, for instance. They create life-saving medications. But they hold monopolies, and can, de facto, decide who will live and who will die.
And then there’s animal testing. Some pharmas maintain high standards. Others secretly outsource overseas where no standards exist. How can you know?
“I’d like to spend my days writing for sustainable, eco-friendly clients,” you say. Me,too.
And it’s a good goal to work toward.
Until that happy day comes, however, I’ll have to judge clients as best I can, case by case.
Oops, that should have read “advice.” Call myself a copywriter??
I missed it too! Call myself a proofreader?!
Wow; you said it, Lorraine! thank you for sharing your thoughts and tabling your excellent methodology.
‘In reaching for the stars, we mayn’t touch one, but at least we shan’t end up with a handful of sh*t.’
Don’t know who said that one either. If anyone. I need to write these things down.
Ha!
I reckon their might be a few more Episodes in between too mate?
You know me?…’Captain Organic’? Or, ‘It’s business Captain but not as we know it’…
It may not be pretty and it may take a while, but ‘Not Giving Up’ can take some surprising turns and bare some unexpected ‘Anchovies’…:-)
Perhaps in a while I might be in the fortunate position of being able to regale the story of rebuilding a failed business as a social outcast with no money, unpayable debts and a lot of ‘not giving up’?
As usual, whether you like it or not, I’ll keep you posted ;-P
Cheers
Stephen G
I go to a meeting and there is 27 comments when I return – pay attention to me!!
I actually reckon that that Susan nailed it – work for them but have the courage to refuse an individual job on moral and ethical grounds.
That way you keep your income and your moral ground. Then you have nothing to lose.
Good on you for not selling out.
Many thanks, Malcolm. This whole life caper is one long balancing act. Saints starve now, sinners burn later. It’s hard to chart a middle course. And even that itself can be judged as astute or a cop out. Where’s Yoda when you need him?!
I’m certainly no saint, but I don’t think I’m a sinner either. I think we have to draw our own “line in the sand”.
Maybe I’m too much of a realist (need to pay the bills, not wanting to be homeless, blah blah) to refuse a client on high moral grounds.
Can moralist ideals ever sit comfortably alongside pragmatism? Without wanting to sound like I’m preaching and to use an old English saving “people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”
Think about this – Do we
• buy coffee made from Fairtrade countries?
• buy Australian products where workplaces are much safer and conditions infinitely better than in developing countries?
• buy clothes that are not made in sweatshops?
• know the sum of the parts that allow us faster, cheaper, more efficient computers, TVs et al?
• use pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, washing powders (classified as hazardous substance by the way)?
• take no medicines only usual natural and homeopathic remedies?
• grow organic or only buy organic all the time?
• clean with baking soda and hot water only
We all have to draw a line our own lines in the sand and we live with the consequences, good, bad or ugly.
Karma is a wonderful mantra regardless of religion and if we do unto others as we would have done unto us, then karma will be kind to us.
Individually, we make judgements with what we can live with. What causes pain and suffering to one is water off a duck’s back to another.
Stephen I totally applaud what you are trying to do and with your unerring commitment and interminable guts you can achieve your goals.
I aim to maintain ethical and responsible good business practices which add value to our clients operations, without ripping them off, whilst treating employees with dignity and providing them with opportunities to achieve their goals.
On a final note, I have refused to take on a client if they are not committed to providing a safe workplace and willing to change their operations to make their workplace safe. This is my line in the sand.
What a fantastic response, Maralyn.
Your compelling writing reminded me of a recent Seth Godin post:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/02/moving-the-line-the-power-of-a-zealot.html
Thank you very much for taking the time.
I fully appreciate your perspective and standpoint Paul.
I don’t think, as human beings, we can always have perfect insight into a company and stand firm against every one of their sins (if we looked at Shell’s track record in Nigeria, I don’t think we’d be buying petrol at their service stations!) – perhaps our position is not so much about being the lead activist to catalyse a social backlash against them but rather that, when our conscious is troubled by something and we don’t want to be a party to it, the very fabric of our personal character and integrity is threatened if we ignore it.
I personally am strongly opposed to gambling because of damage that is caused to countless families – hence, a number of years ago, when I had opportunity to do some work with Crown Casino, I very conveniently over-quoted myself out of the job. Bravo for responding to your conscious, even if it was a bit too much to directly verbalise it to your client.
Thank you, Philip, both for nailing this issue so well and for giving your own example.
It sure is a tangled web we inhabit these days.
Perhaps the best way forward is for each of us to do their best with their own little strand. If we ALL do that, the way will surely be clearer.
Best regards, P.
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