The Bhopal Fun Run.

“Companies must understand that they cannot escape responsibility for human rights abuses in one area by engaging in positive action elsewhere.”

This spot was to promote yesterday’s global Run For Water event from Dow. Gotta admit, I find ripples in a pond with healthy runners creepy in the context of the 1984 Bhopal disaster. This happens all the time though with brands on a less dramatic level. Companies have always understood they can escape negative press in one area with positive spin in another. Twitter may get the word out about a bad experience in a store, or bloggers may cover a company’s production practices—but it still happens. I really think the majority of companies would rather use social media as damage control after the fact than change their policies ahead of time. The bigger question though is whether Amnesty International has a point in going after Dow here:

Where is the statue of limitations for a brand, and is that always dependent on the severity of the original incident?