Do good vs. make money

Funny how the pressure to make money eventually seems to outweigh the stated goal of 'doing good.' Witness a long quote from "Starbucks and the Bee":

Starbucks made its first foray into the movie industry by teaming with Lion’s Gate to help promote and distribute “Akeelah and the Bee,” a movie about an inner-city black girl’s struggle to make it to a national spelling bee. Starbucks’ backing of the movie represents an interesting commentary on corporations that attempt to engage in socially responsible behavior.

On the one hand, Starbucks’ entrance into the movie business reflects a movement towards diversification that has proved profitable for many other fast food chains such as McDonalds and Burger King. In exchange for its marketing efforts, Starbucks will receive a percentage of the movie’s revenue. Starbucks already has had some success in the entertainment industry by selling music CDs, and with Akeelah and the Bee looks to broaden its participation into other arenas. In this regard, Starbucks is taking part in the more general trend of corporate engagement in a variety of different endeavors. ...

Although inspirational, the movie does not appear to have met revenue expectations. The movie opened with less than expected earnings, coming in at number eight during its opening weekend and then number nine the second weekend. Starbucks claims to be upbeat despite the numbers, and hopeful that the revenues will improve. This hope seems a bit unfounded given that movies tend to generate the highest amount of revenue during their opening week.

Unfortunately, the pressure to meet revenue expectations may undermine Starbucks’ ability to “do good.” When financial analysts questioned Schultz about Akeelah and the Bee during a conference call, Schultz apparently did not feel comfortable focusing analysts on the strength of the movie’s message. Instead, he appeared to distance himself from the movie by stressing that Starbucks had invested no cash in the movie, and had no plans to invest in films in the future. Then too, other than some games and soundtracks, there was little evidence of continued marketing for Akeelah and the Bee at the Starbucks I visited today. Gone are the spelling stickers that graced the doors, windows and counters. I am not sure if it was pre-planned, but the withdrawal of these more visible signs of promotion is interesting, to say the least. It suggests that Starbucks has encountered difficulties with seeking to do well and do good.

It will be interesting to see what Starbucks future is in film promotion.