Is Banning Plastic Straws A Good Strategy For Companies?
Richard Kestenbaum Contributor i
Jul 11, 2018, 09:57am 213 views #BigBusiness
Photo Illustration by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
In an era where banning plastic straws is part of the public discussion about protecting the environment, what should other brands take away from the announcement by Starbucks that it is doing away with single-use, plastic straws? No brand wants to be seen as obstructing progress, so what’s the right course for a brand?
The ban by Starbucks was initiated in part by a consumer campaign that got almost 150,000 signatures. Already, American Airlines, Hyatt, Marriott International, Alaska Airlines, SeaWorld and Royal Caribbean cruise lines have banned plastic straws. Municipalities are getting in on it, too. Seattle became the first big U.S. city to ban plastic straws and there is a similar bill in the California legislature as well. Other smaller cities like Malibu and Berkeley have also instituted new rules about plastic straws. Other related campaigns are ongoing:
- McDonald’s: This campaign has over 50,000 signatures so far.
- Disney: This campaign was started by a 10-year old who visited DisneyWorld and started a petition to eliminate the use of plastic straws and lids at DisneyWorld. It has almost 35,000 signatures so far.
- Subway: This campaign has almost 100,000 signatures so far.
What should a brand do when consumers start militating for change related to the environment? For Starbucks it was a little simpler than for most companies. Starbucks has been outspoken in its politics for a long time. Its left-leaning positions on education, health care and wages fit well with the banning of plastic straws, especially once consumers grabbed hold of the issue. But for other companies that don’t want to be seen as political, what’s the right course? Caring for the environment is something everyone’s in favor of but it has become a litmus test for other political positions and many companies don't want to be seen as taking political stands. Starbucks is unusual in being identified with certain issues that most companies don’t want to speak out on. It’s harder for other companies to decide how to handle a political issue. But if you’re McDonald’s, Disney or Subway and petitions like the ones above are gaining momentum, you don’t want to be seen as unresponsive to customers’ concerns. Also, the Starbucks anti-straw campaign was accelerated by a gruesome video showing a turtle impaled by a plastic straw and that same video is being used in other campaigns. No big company can abide being the enemy of an innocent turtle.
A report by Sprout Social has some interesting insights into the question of what big, visible companies ought to do when faced with this question. A section of the report separates consumers into left-leaning and right-leaning groups. Then the report looks at how each of those groups view companies and their relationship to social issues like the environment. What comes out is that liberal consumers want the companies they patronize to be vocal on social issues. They are more likely to believe that corporations have credibility and liberal consumers are more likely to act if corporations don’t respond. On the other hand, conservative consumers don’t believe companies are as credible on social issues. Most important of all, when consumers disagree with a stand taken by a company on a social issue like the environment, liberal consumers are more likely to purchase less and conservative consumers are more likely to ignore the concern.
Not to be cynical, but if a large consumer brand wants to take the most rational, even craven, position, what it will do when faced with consumers who want it to move left on an environmental issue is: give in. If a brand succumbs to public pressure on an issue like plastic straws, liberal consumers are more likely to applaud the move and conservative consumers are less likely to care. I’m not trying to denigrate the feeling of Starbucks’ management, I don’t doubt the company's intentions or motivation, but what it did was the businesslike thing. If it can get the economics of the replacement products to work, banning plastic straws will work more in its favor than against it.
Consumers' environmental concerns won’t end with plastic straws. There are images circulating online about miles-long heaps of plastic in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Once more retail brands do away with the straws, plastic lids are next and there will be more after that. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing or a good thing — the important point here is: smart retail brands who want to do good business will listen to their environmentally-sensitive consumers and market their products accordingly.
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