Line #41 Main/WeCare


1	->''"We care a lot about the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines\
2	We care a lot about the N.Y., S.F. and L.A.P.D.\
3	We care a lot about you people! We care a lot about your guns!\
4	We care a lot about the wars you're fighting, gee! That looks like fun!"''
5	-->-- '''Music/FaithNoMore''', "We Care a Lot"
6
7	EvilInc is catching a lot of flak for bad environmental practices, price-fixing, mistreatment of employees, and all kinds of {{Predatory Business}}es. So what do they do? Make a Public Relations Ad showing how much good they do, and just how much they really care about the Earth/Little Guy/Mom and Apple Pie/what have you. We really do, honest!
8
9	In reality, however, this company does ''not'' care. It never cares. This company is dead set against caring. The CEO doesn't allow the corporation to take an action that decreases projected profits, for any reason. Period. If it looks like it's bending that rule, you can bet there are a bevy of charts and graphs showing how the PR will pay for the losses.
10
11	When the theme is "We care about the environment", this is [[GreenwashedVillainy commonly termed]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwash greenwashing]]. When it's "We care about LGBT people/rights" or "We care about breast cancer awareness", it's commonly called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkwashing pinkwashing]].
12
13	When the entire company acts like this to ''everyone'', that's PeaceAndLoveIncorporated.
14
15	Compare PhotoOpWithTheDog. Could be considered a variant of WeDontSuckAnymore, but that trope is related to quality, not ethics (and is sometimes true). Supertrope of GreenwashedVillainy. Not related to WeReallyDoCare.
16
17	[[noreallife]]
18	----
19	!!Examples:
20
21	[[foldercontrol]]
22
23	[[folder:Advertising]]
24	* The ''VideoGame/YouDontKnowJack'' commercial parody. It's also on the "The Ride" version of "You Don't Hear Jack".
25	%%* Many {{Public Relations Ad}}vertisements.
26	[[/folder]]
27
28	[[folder:Alternate Reality Games]]
29	* "Spirited debate. It's the cornerstone of our philosophy here at the Hanso Foundation..." One of many from ''ARG/TheLostExperience''. Players of the game know how evil these guys are.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Comic Books]]
33	* Used in at least one ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons'' comic with "Globex Corporation - We Dominate Because We Care".
34	[[/folder]]
35	%%
36	%%[[folder:Comic Strips]]
37	%%* [[http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/1994-08-04/ This]] ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' strip.
38	%%[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
41	* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'' "We scare because we care." Unlike in most cases of this trope, they actually ''do'' care. The problem is that some of the higher-ups care ''too'' [[WellIntentionedExtremist much]].
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
45	* In ''Film/TommyBoy'', Ray Zalinsky's big honkin' auto parts ads always end in how much he cares about families. So much so that even Tommy is impressed, despite the fact that Zalinsky's attempting to buy out Tommy's hometown auto parts company just for the name, which would put hundreds (including Tommy) out of work in the process.
46	-->'''Zalinsky:''' I make car parts for the American working man, because that's what I am, and that's who I care about. Truth is, I make car parts for the American working man because I'm a hell of a salesman and he doesn't know any better.
47	* In ''Film/OnDeadlyGround'', the BigBad is introduced filming a commercial of this kind for his company Aegis Oil, with caribou and seals covered in oil and basically milking it for all it's worth. But the instant the director says "cut," the first words out of the BigBad's mouth are "Fuck! These animals stink!" and he's yelling at his men to get the animals out of there.
48	* In ''Film/MichaelClayton'', fictional company United North [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrVwqknwWyw&feature=related Cared a Lot]].
49	* In the movie ''Film/PumpUpTheVolume'', Hubert Humphrey High School's principal started hanging up posters promoting a student outreach program called [[FunWithAcronyms BIONIC]] ('''B'''elieve '''I'''t '''O'''r '''N'''ot '''I C'''are), encouraging troubled teens to call a phone number on the posters. The posters were nothing but a trap to catch [[BuccaneerBroadcaster pirate radio broadcaster]] Christian Slater with a wire-tapped phone.
50	* In ''Film/MrMom'', Caroline, working for an advertising firm, convinces the head of a tuna company struggling due to a recession to make one of these ads, and to back it up by lowering the price of their tuna to make it easier for struggling consumers to put food on the table.
51	-->'''Humphries:''' When this crisis is over, we will go back to our regular prices. Until then, remember, [[YouAreNotAlone we're all in this together]]. Schooner Tuna. The tuna with a heart.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Literature]]
55	* The Literature/AlexRider novel ''Crocodile Tears'' focuses around a charity organization named First Aid, renowned worldwide for their generosity and prompt response to disasters. In fact, many of these disasters (like the chemical explosion in Chennai at the beginning and the planned chemical attack on Kenya) are actually staged by Desmond [=McCain=], First Aid's founder, for the express purpose of amassing as much money and respect as he can via donations to his charity.
56	* Spoofed in the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Literature/GoingPostal'':
57	-->''"They had even instated an 'Employee of the Month' program to show how much they cared.'' That was how much they didn't care."
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
61	* Old ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' commercial parody[[note]]played by Creator/LilyTomlin in her iconic Ernestine the Operator character[[/note]]: "We don't care. We don't have to care. We're the phone company."[[note]]Prior to 1983, there was only one phone company, Bell Telephone later AT&T, in the US. There was no place else to go if you wanted to make a phone call.[[/note]]
62	* The same bit in ''Film/ThePresidentsAnalyst'' from 1967, where TPC (which literally stood for "The Phone Company") controlled virtually everything, and didn't care who knew it.
63	* In a ''Series/ThirtyRock'' episode, a character played by Steve Martin invented a fake company called [=SunStream=]. The ads covered up the fact that they didn't actually do anything by simply showing the words "innovation", "tomorrow" and "America" flash across the screen accompanied by inspirational images and music.
64	%%* The Wolfram & Hart video from the "[[Recap/AngelS05E09HarmsWay Harm's Way]]" episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}''.
65	* In the first season of ''Series/BetterOffTed'', [[OncePerEpisode each episode]] had a [[ParodyCommercial fake We Care commercial]] for the [[MegaCorp evil corporation]] that is the setting for the show.
66	* One of [[Series/TheLateLateShow Craig Ferguson's]] more common gags is to mock the "CBS [[note]] [[BitingTheHandHumor his network]][[/note]] Cares" ads.
67	-->''"In fact, that's what CBS stands for, did you know that? Cares 'Bout... Stuff."''
68	* On ''Series/TheColbertReport'' Stephen showed [[http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/186475/september-30-2008/prescott-oil-loves-the-earth this commercial from his sponsor Prescott Oil.]]
69	* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'':
70	** The plot of one episode involved a commercial of this kind for the Goliath National Bank, the employer of Barney and Marshall. The latter at first refused to appear in the ad, because of the GNB's evil MegaCorp status, but eventually changed his mind after [[ItMakesSenseInContext he made one employee very happy by firing him]].
71	** One aside from Ted described the company that Barney worked for as "the makers of the yellow fuzz on tennis balls" noting that their commercials focused on that product rather than the montage of chemical refineries and what suspisioucly resembled North Korean military weaponry.
72	* A large part of Sharon's job in ''Series/TwoGuysAGirlAndAPizzaPlace'' was coming up with ways to spin the various ecological disasters created by the chemical company she worked for.
73	* On ''Series/TheBoys2019'', Vought International, the MegaCorp that runs [[SuperTeam the Seven]] and most other superheroes, is shown to be an extremely image-focused organization, all for the goal of winning public support for the idea of {{Military Superhero}}es.
74	** In the episode "The Innocents", the Seven are shown making a video titled "Super in America" in order to humanize their images, though it's suggested this is the wrong PR approach for Vought's mission of getting their supes into the military. It doesn't help that Starlight has just publicly revealed that she was sexually assaulted by The Deep, one of her teammates within the Seven -- and that Vought proceeded to spin this into an attempt to market Starlight as a feminist superhero. A particularly brutal note is that The Deep is shown supporting a movement to clean up beaches of trash -- and it becomes clear that, in fact, all the trash on the beach is planted, and whenever he does another take, they put the trash back before the camera starts rolling again.
75	** Vought is at it again in season two, this time going all-in on pretending to be feminist when they recruit Stormfront onto the team and market her with Starlight and Queen Maeve under the slogan [[YouGoGirl "Girls Get it Done"]] -- while covering up the fact that Stormfront is a violent, virulent racist [[spoiler:and a literal [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld old-school]] [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]]]]. Homelander outing Queen Maeve as a lesbian[[note]]she's actually bisexual, but the market researchers believe that the general public is [[NoBisexuals only aware of straight and gay labels]][[/note]] and dating a woman also causes Vought to latch onto LGBT+ rights in order to market Maeve as a symbol of queer pride, notwithstanding Maeve's actual thoughts on the matter (to start, she was ForcedOutOfTheCloset as a power move against her on Homelander's part, and kept her sexuality and relationship with Elena secret because she feared what Homelander might do to Elena if he found out).
76	** Season two also brings us the [[ChurchOfHappyology Church of the Collective]], whose charity work is more interested in evangelism than in actually helping the poor. At one event, The Deep hands out copies of their Dianetics-like holy text at a homeless shelter and comes off looking like a callous jerk.
77	-->'''Homeless woman:''' They said there'd be food.\
78	'''The Deep:''' Well, this is food for your soul.
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Music Videos]]
82	* The plastic surgeon in the music video for Music/{{TLC}}'s "Unpretty" has this as their slogan. Needless to say, that particular facility cares more about its bottom line than its patients. For example, a girl is shown having (perhaps botched) breast implants ''ripped out of her while she is still awake'', causing the PinballProtagonist to rethink her plans to get breast implants.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
86	* Parodied in ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' with the "We Say So" corporation.
87	[[/folder]]
88
89	[[folder:Video Games]]
90	* Spoofed in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII:'' pay attention to the radio, and you'll hear an Eris Running Shoes ad claiming that nope, their factories ain't sweatshops, no sir, hell no. Then you hear some kids saying "It's fun! We get to play with knives!", "My friend Joey sewed his hands together!", and "Yesterday, I made a dollar!".
91	%%* The UAC from ''VideoGame/Doom3''.
92	%%* The ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' series: Spoofed to hell and back. There are loudspeakers throughout Pandora, blaring propaganda of the respective gun companies:
93	%%** The first game, ''VideoGame/Borderlands1''
94	%%** ''VideoGame/Borderlands2''
95	* ''VideoGame/WildStar'' has Protostar. Protostar: Making dreams come true. For money! ''(Protostar is not responsible for making dreams come true)''
96	* The bioweapon manufacturing [[MegaCorp Umbrella Corporation]] of ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' cultivated a benign public image, with mottoes like "Our business is life itself" and "Preserving the health of the people".[[note]]The in-house employee motto is the far more ominous "Obedience breeds Discipline. Discipline breeds Unity. Unity breeds Power. Power is Life."[[/note]] Wesker even makes a snarky comment in ''The Umbrella Chronicles'' about how Umbrella loved its perky facade.
97	* ''VideoGame/SpiderManMilesMorales:'' Roxxon's ads have their corporate slogan "here for you". They aren't, even when they're not knocking down buildings in Harlem to put up their office buildings. They're barely there for each other.
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Webcomics]]
101	* In ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'', [[BigBad Brian Souballo]] magically disguised himself as an old teacher he failed to [[BetterLivingThroughEvil recruit to his side]], and used the disguise to frame the teacher for destruction and murder at the city of Silverfronds. Right after this mission, Brian ordered his imperial toadies to assist in the cleanup of the damage caused, intending on getting good publicity for his empire.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Web Original]]
105	* Skewered in Website/TheOnion article entitled [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28569 ''GE Ad Trumpets Company's Government-Ordered Environmental Cleanup'']]
106	* After the BP oil spill, a [[http://www.twitter.com/BPGlobalPR fake Twitter account]] popped up, signing off most of its tweets with #bpcares. For instance: "We've created something that will affect your children's children. Can YOU say the same about YOUR life? #nailedit #bpcares"
107	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06yy88tLWlg This video]] from H. Bomberguy about "woke brands" goes into detail on this phenomenon, specifically the modern (late 2010s) incarnation of brands attaching themselves to progressive social causes in order to market their products. He feels that, while such branding does have positive value in driving conversation and pushing back against reactionary viewpoints, it also has two ulterior motives: to reorient the brands in question to be more acceptable in a changing social climate, and to whitewash the often exploitative and problematic practices that the companies might engage in behind the scenes, from [[NightmarishFactory Third World labor practices]] to the "pink tax" on [[MenBuyFromMarsWomenBuyFromVenus female-branded products]] that are functionally identical to their male equivalents yet still more expensive.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Western Animation]]
111	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Mom's Friendly Robot Company is headed by Mom, whose public image is that of a friendly mother. In actuality Mom is an unscrupulous business woman, and all around unpleasant.
112	* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' Goth Corp's Slogan was "The People Company". The CEO Ferris Boyle (Voiced by Creator/MarkHamill) tried to expel Mr Freeze's wife after he found out that Freeze was using company equipment to cure her fatal disease, an act which killed her and caused Freeze's condition.
113	-->'''Boyle:''' Look, Bruce, that "people company" bit is good press, but when the wage slaves start acting like they own the joint it's time to pull the plug.
114	* Played with Hank Scorpio in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. His compassionate nature and the new job he hired Homer for seem too good to be true. [[spoiler:He genuinely is a BenevolentBoss who truly does care for his employees. He just also happens to be a [[Film/JamesBond Bond Villain]] trying to take over the world.]]
115	%% * ''WesternAnimation/SheepInTheBigCity'': Bio-Technical Corporate Concern Limited Company. [[WhatWereTheySellingAgain We have no idea what we sell.]]
116	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': A RunningGag in the "Coon Trilogy" is that BP commits various atrocities on nature through their oil drilling, to the point that they ''awaken Cthulhu.'' To address these concerns, CEO Tony Haywood makes apology videos set to calm music with visuals of him petting a seal, baking cookies, sitting in a field of dandelions, lying sexily on a rug by the fireplace, etc. Despite this, BP doesn't do anything better and just doubles down on their irresponsible drilling practices.
117	[[/folder]]

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