[goatinaboat]

Did you at some point think that the corporate leadership of a massive for-profit organization was going to make a public statement that was anything other than the bare minimum lip service they were required to pay in order to weather the PR storm of the day, so that they could continue doing business?

It’s not just that. By encouraging civil unrest in the US/UK and continuing to funnel money to Chinese sweatshops these corporations are actively supporting the Chinese regime both in its foreign policy and its economy.

Remember the Apple 1984 ad? Now imagine the runner throwing handfuls of dollar bills at Big Brother instead.

[cal5k]

That ad was a neat PR trick, seeing as it seemed to make people forget that Apple is one of the most profitable companies in human existence. It's not a "revolutionary" company, it just makes really good products.

[aspenmayer]

They do more than others in the industry with their annual transparency reports, and they are working to end unfair working conditions in their operations, and in those of their partners such as Foxconn. I do agree that they could do more, but I haven’t even brought up their recycling programs yet. They have the largest burden to bear, as the world’s largest company, depending how you measure it, and so they can commensurately do more to identify the problems and work toward solutions. To say they are only making really good products is a bit harsh, as they are measurably doing more than their competition to make their profits ethically, while making those products.

[duskwuff]

> That ad was a neat PR trick, seeing as it seemed to make people forget that Apple is one of the most profitable companies in human existence.

That ad aired in 1984. Apple was nowhere near as profitable at the time as it is today.