WHAT IS CARROTMOB?
Carrotmob is a method of activism that leverages consumer power to make the most socially-responsible business practices also the most profitable choices. Businesses compete with one another to see who can do the most good, and then a big mob of consumers buys products in order to reward whichever business made the strongest commitment to improve the world. It’s the opposite of a boycott.
It’s easier to understand if you look at an example. In the first ever Carrotmob event, a liquor store agreed to invest in upgrades that made their store more energy-efficient. In exchange, hundreds of Carrotmobbers showed up at once to support the winning liquor store. To the right is a video of that campaign, and the mayhem that ensued…
So…that video might be a little heavy on the dancing, but it explains the concept rather well. Now, choose a category below and we’ll tell you why the people in that category tend to love Carrotmob….
If you want to organize your own Carrotmob, email us at info@carrotmob.org. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook and can check out Carrotmob videos on YouTube
CONSUMER
If you’re a consumer, your involvement is simple. You sign up for Carrotmob, and then you wait for something to happen. When someone plans an event near you, we’ll let you know. For example, maybe there’s an event in your neighborhood to help a hardware store go green. If there’s anything you could use from a hardware store (for example, stock up on duct tape!) then you can swing by to join the mob and buy what you need. It’s easy, but when a whole mob of people do this easy thing, the mob becomes extremely powerful, and we can compel the hardware store to put solar panels on the roof, stop selling 5,000 year old endangered rainforest lumber, or whatever we want!
People want change. Most people care about social issues and want to help make a better world, but it can be difficult to make time for social activism. Furthermore, many traditional methods of activism seem stale and ineffective at solving today’s problems. Luckily, Carrotmob is extremely easy to participate in, and most scientists agree that Carrotmob’s style is hotter than eating a habanero-lava omelette at noon in Phoenix. Carrotmob simply asks people to coordinate and plan the purchases they are already making. This model is not threatening, not expensive, not time-consuming, not uncomfortable, not “radical,” not confusing, and not negative. It’s the perfect level of involvement for most people.
ACTIVIST
Carrotmob was created by an activist who was frustrated by the ineffectiveness of traditional methods of activism: protests, rallies, boycotts, emails to congresspeople, letters to editors, and most of all, silly chants. Unlike those other methods, Carrotmob has measurable results built in. If businesses aren’t willing to make significant improvements, there will be no campaign. But once businesses decide that winning a Carrotmob campaign will bring enough value to them that they’re willing to make some big changes, they will actually become our partners.
We are activists who accept the premise that corporations will nearly always continue to keep profit as their top priority. Historically, this situation has left activists feeling helpless. For example, many environmentalists have seen the pursuit of profit harm the environment time and time again, since the most profitable business practices are often destructive to the planet. Rather than rage against this tendency, we work with it. Carrotmob can put rewards in place that will make environmental responsibility the most profitable choice. Companies will do what we want, not because of negative pressure, or morality, or a boycott, or a petition…there are enough sticks out there. We need a big juicy carrot. They will do what we say because they won’t be able to resist the profits.
BUSINESS
You’re a business. Like all other businesses, you’re being very responsible in some areas, but you have plenty of things that you could do to improve your impact on the world. Maybe you want to be a more responsible company, or maybe you don’t even care. Either way, you’re deciding whether or not you should get involved with Carrotmob. You may expect activists to criticize your failures and turn you into a villain. We don’t do that. We never attack anyone, because we don’t need to. We don’t need a stick, because we have a carrot. We’re helping you. We’re offering to boost your profits in order to make it possible for you to make some great changes to your business.
You need to evaluate how much cash you think Carrotmob can bring your business. You also need to evaluate what effect winning a Carrotmob event will have on your reputation. Will this create a community of customers who will always be loyal to your business in the future? Or not? Do you think that value will outweigh the financial costs of what you’re being asked to do? It’s that simple.
You are used to competing in the free market. The only thing that is different now is that your customers are starting to organize themselves. We’re playing by business rules. The game is business. The values are business. Carrotmob just wants to make you the most responsible business around, and make you rich in the process.
