Evil corporation explained

An evil corporation is a trope in popular culture that portrays a corporation as ignoring social responsibility, morality, ethics, and sometimes laws in order to make profit for its shareholders.[1] In rare cases, the corporation may be well intentioned but extremist, engaging in noble cause corruption.

In fiction

The notion is "deeply embedded in the landscape of contemporary culture—populating films, novels, videogames, and more." The science fiction genre served as the initial background to portray corporations in this dystopian light.

Evil corporations can be seen to represent the danger of combining capitalism with larger hubris.[2]

Some notable uses of the trope include Atlas Corporation in , Weyland-Yutani in the Alien franchise, InGen in the Jurassic Park franchise, Resources Development Administration in Avatar, Umbrella Corporation in Resident Evil, East India Trading Company in Pirates of the Caribbean, and E-Corp in Mr. Robot.

Real-world usage

Some real-world corporations have been accused of being evil. To guard against such accusations, Google once adopted the official motto "Don't be evil", although whether it was ever truly followed was a matter of debate - critics accused the company of "evil" acts such as secret data collection and violating customers' privacy, and political bias.[3] The motto was eventually moved to the very end of its code of conduct, then removed entirely.[4] The New Yorker wrote that "many food activists consider Monsanto (which later merged with Bayer) to be the definitively evil corporation".[5]

The Debate over Corporate Social Responsibility wrote, "For many consumers, Wal-Mart serves as the evil corporation prototype, but record numbers shop at the stores for low prices."[6]

In Japan, a committee of journalists and rights activists issues an annual "corporate raspberry award" known as Most Evil Corporation of the Year Award (also called the Black Company Award) to a company "with a culture of overwork, discrimination and harassment".[7]

See also

Further reading

External links

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Notes and References

  1. News: Allan . Angela . How the 'Evil Corporation' Became a Pop-Culture Trope . . April 25, 2016 . January 11, 2017 .
  2. News: McHenry . Jackson . Mr. Robots Chilling Message: Every Corp Is E Corp . . August 26, 2015 . January 11, 2017 .
  3. Web site: Thompson . Cadie . 2014-08-19 . Does 'Don't be evil' still apply to Google? . 2023-05-07 . CNBC . en.
  4. Web site: Conger . Kate . 18 May 2018 . Google Removes 'Don't be Evil' Clause from Its Code of Conduct . Gizmodo.
  5. Specter . Michael . Why the climate corporation sold itself to Monsanto . . November 4, 2013 . January 23, 2017 .
  6. Book: Kendall . Brenden E. . Gill . Rebecca . Cheney . George . 2007 . Consumer Activism and Corporate Social Responsibility: How Strong a Connection? . May . Steven K. . Cheney . George . The Debate over Corporate Social Responsibility . Oxford University Press . 258 . 978-0-19-517883-8 .
  7. News: Kikuchi . Daisuke . Ad giant Dentsu declared Most Evil Corporation of the Year . . December 23, 2016 . January 27, 2017 .