Tom's of Colgate-Palmolive?
In some ways, I feel totally cheated by this. I had no idea Tom's of Maine sold the farm to Colgate. I've been brushing my teeth with their toothpaste for years, I've been to their headquarters in Kennebunkport (which is a bonanza of free/cheap products), and I frickin' love their gingermint flavor. Love it.
Tom and Kate say they still have their values, and it's all about broadening their market (Wal-Mart) and bringing those values to more consumers, and they still donate ten percent of their profit, but you gotta wonder what those values are really all about. Especially since they chose not to disclose on their packaging that they're now owned by a global giant. Tom said, "I don't see why our customer would be interested in seeing a Colgate reference. Branding is really about values, and the Tom's of Maine values are intact. We are living those values, and that is what we need to reinforce among our consumers by investing in the Tom's of Maine logo, not confusing them with another logo."
Kate said, "It clarifies that we are still in Maine. It's important, a sense of place."
What? Maybe your summer house on Monhegan Island is still in Maine, and your factory is still in Maine, but this feels like finding out the man you love kills people for a living. World domination of the toothpaste market -- what kind of value is that?
Did anyone else see "Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox" last week at the Red Vic? That company is still family-owned, they give away 70 percent of their net, profit share with their workers, and Ralph Bronner was still whipping out his wallet and passing out $100 bills on camera and presses hugs and bottles of soap on anyone he runs into. Guess I'm back to brushing with the peppermint Bronner's.
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Comments (5)
As an addendum, don't shop at Whole Foods. It's the Walmart of grocery store chains. The CEO and founder is a libertarian nut bag who attacks budding unions with the ferocity of a raging case of herpes.
Posted by expatriate | October 10, 2007 08:47 PM
If you wanted to boycott companies based on their politics, you have to be able to tell if the company who makes the product is a subsidiary of a target company, so the subsidiary relationship must be on the label (I say.)
Better would be a directory of the "trees" showing what companies are owned in turn by other companies. I don't know of such a reference online but I would start a search for one at corpwatch.org.
If such a "map" were also annotated with corresponding the political leanings and contributions, that would be a good reference tool. Such a thing is in print in a short form called "The Blue Pages" by PoliPointPress.
You'd think, if "we and they" believed in free markets so much, we should also believe in free information about the markets as well. Why shouldn't I be able to compare CEO salaries, top-to-bottom-pay-ratio, attitudes towards unions, political contributions, and especially profit over cost factors when choosing who to buy from? But the industry neither trusts the consumer nor wishes to educate them, witness not having to label GMO foods on the one hand and having to witness a /disclaimer/ on milk on the other hand that says "no proof that non-rBGH is any different from rBGH milk" on a carton of non-rBGH milk, as if to say, the government wants you to know that just because it's in some sense "organic", it's not better ... such hypocrisy.
The easier list to maintain would be of companies that are NOT scumbags; does anyone know of such a thing online?
Posted by eric dynamic | October 11, 2007 02:40 PM
I'm guessing that when Ben & Jerry sold their company to Unilever (for a cool $350 million), they could be seen as having sold out. Yet they don't seem to have lost their activist nature. Go figure.
Posted by jeff | October 11, 2007 08:43 PM
I think you painted this incorrectly.
"A professional artist, Kate maintains a studio in Kennebunk, where she also resides with her husband Tom. Each summer, she spends time painting on remote islands off the coast of Maine. She is represented by Mast Cove Gallery and the Lupine Gallery on Monhegan Island. "
That doesn't mean she ONLY lives in Maine for summer, but that she spends time off the coast in the summer.
...my question: middle name Cheney... any relation to 'Go F*ck yourself' VP?
Posted by mcas | October 27, 2007 09:21 PM
Tonight I noticed that the new Tom's of Colgate toothpaste that I picked up has a different ingredient list than the old Tom's of Maine that I finished, including the fluoride and sodium lauryl sulphate that the old Tom's proudly disavowed...
Posted by david | June 4, 2008 09:48 PM