The headline for this post comes from the following quote, taken from an article in Business Week.

"What’s important is what it says about our brand," said Brad Stevens, Starbuck Corp.’s vice president of U.S. Marketing.

The Seattle-based coffee giant recently kicked off an effort to hand out 10,000 cards called "cheer passes" daily, asking recipients to perform one act of kindness for someone else and pass the card along. The drive is not tied to any cause and the cards are not redeemable for merchandise, but recipients can track their card’s progress online.

"It says that we at Starbucks are willing to use our resources to try and start this chain of good will," said Stevens.

The Cheerpass campaign isn’t about fair trade coffee. But Mr. Stevens’ comments are very revealing.

When he says, "What’s important is what it says about our brand,” he is showing us that the motivation behind the campaign is entirely self-serving. He’s trying to make Starbucks look good. (Note to Starbucks: The best and only way to ensure that you look good is to BE good.)

This self-serving approach to goodwill and social responsibility is also what separates companies which have a genuine commitment to fair trade coffee from those which don’t.

Ask vice presidents from Starbucks, Nestlé and other giant coffee marketers about their involvement in the fair trade coffee movement. I can imagine each and every one of them saying, “What’s important is what it says about our brand.”

Now take a look at companies like ThanksgivingCoffee.com, which have genuine commitments to the fair trade coffee movement, and to supporting small coffee farmers and their communities.

There’s a vast difference between promoting fair trade simply to make money, and supporting fair trade because you believe in it.