Many of the ads from decades ago would not only be banned today, but are also laughable. The Coke ad below, for instance, is trying to sell coke based on what is likely a false premise. I’m not sure if it has been disproved that drinking coke as an infant will get you friends in high school, but I’m fairly certain that any infant who starts drinking Coke habitually will likely become obese and have a host of health problems in high school. There were countless of unethical advertisements in those days, but now in 2013, altruism seems to be a prevalent theme among large corporations. Interestingly enough, many of the corporations that boast of corporate social responsibility today, were heavily scrutinized in earlier years. So are they being socially responsible because they care, or because they have evolved with the times? It is now evident that consumers value companies which are attentive to the needs of their communities; so from a business perspective, it’s a rational decision to spend money on some charitable foundation in order to capture unrealized profits. Perhaps it’s feigned altruism, or perhaps it is a sincere attempt to better the world. I’m sure many companies have realized that by being charitable, they benefit just as consumers and third parties do. Nonetheless, corporations are first and foremost profit driven, so I believe it’s important to consider all of their social responsibility warily.