i have absolutely no respect for tom’s since they sold out to colgate (seriously? adding sls *back* into their toothpastes? what?), just like i have no love for burt’s bees (since he long ago ceased to have anything to do with his own company); his gold-digging money-grubbing ex sold out to clorox.

please sayward, dear, stay true and poor, but have integrity, which is priceless. (and please let them know why you won’t sell out!).

keep your reputation unsullied! there are many more amazing companies out there worthy of your support and endorsement. even if your financial worth may not grow, you will become rich in other ways. :) <3 you!

I struggled with this for a while as well, e.g. when I discovered Alpro was owned by Dean Foods I was determined to buy other brands, but they were more expensive, and as a student I just couldn’t afford them. So I made the choice to support the good part of a bad company. My hope is that the more people buy the ‘good’ stuff, the larger that part of the company will grow until someday, fingers crossed, the ‘bad’ part of the company is no longer needed. Hope that makes sense xoxo

I am a fan of the pro-con list. The pro-con list + my gut gets me through all tough situations. I apologize if I do not help you, but here are some additional thoughts:

This situation can be analogous to eating at non-vegan restaurants. If your coworkers have a lunch at a steakhouse, do you refuse because it’s a steakhouse, or do you go, eat the limp salad, and try to change the restaurant from the “inside” by proving that there is demand for vegan items on the menu?

When you buy Toms, you are buying Colgate. You are voting with your dollars that Toms is a worthy, in-demand product, and you value those principles. But at the end of the day, the money goes to Colgate. So, for the same reasons that you refuse the job, do you also refuse to buy Toms, or shop at any place that isn’t socially, environmentally, and ethically responsible? (Colgate does have a Sustainability Report, like an annual report, so at least *somebody* is thinking about it).

I strive to change the world one person at a time – subtly, and through example. I will work at a large company in the “good” part (once I *was* the good part), and work diligently to change corporate policy as a whole. (I have refused jobs in the past from companies with no “good” part, or companies which did not even pretend to address issues that are my core values). This approach has always been successful, and although there are rare times where I have to defend my employer, when I mention the changes I have brought about it’s well received and appreciated. The world as a whole is not ready for the social, environmental, and ethical policies that we (or I) see so clearly as a requirement for a sustainable future. I try to change the world and conceptions one person at a time, and working on the “inside” gives you more power to do so. A dollar is just a statistic. An employee is a voice. They have contacted you, so they are interested in your voice, your opinions, your drive for change. That alone is huge.

Finally, what does your gut say? If you do take the job and end up not liking it, you can quit, knowing that you tried your best but they would not change. If you refuse the job on principle, will you regret refusing the opportunity to change the minds of people for the better?

I agree with Stefanie – it’s not a crime to put food on the table. Also, when you are stuck with a decision like this, you can turn to the principle of double effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_double_effect). This is an ethical principle for making a decision when what you want to do has a negative side effect that you would otherwise not choose to do. In this case, you want to promote Tom’s, which is a product you already like, in order to increase your income, which is a positive outcome. The unfortunate side effect is that way, way, way over there in the corner stands Colgate, and you would rather not promote them.

Since your *intent* is to promote a product to make money, and not to promote Colgate, I think you can sleep soundly at night knowing you are doing a good thing. Also, while I would add that Tom’s is by no means perfect – several people have taken great pains to point out its flaws here – any way that we can promote greater availability of healthier choices to the masses is a good thing. (Vegan and healthier products should not be only for the privileged. Yes, the damned toothpaste might have SLS in it, but it’s still leaps and bounds ahead of some other formulations people are putting in their mouths. Besides, you could take your blog readers disdain for SLS back to Colgate and tell them that we don’t need no stinkin’ SLS to make our toothpaste foamy, thankyouverymuch.)

The only perfect vegan is a dead one. You could take this opportunity to demonstrate to other vegans, or other people thinking of begin vegan, that we live in the real world too. We’re not breathing some rarefied air where everything is sunshine and roses and no creature will ever suffer because of our saintly existence. I ran over a small creature the other day while driving because surrounding traffic made it impossible for to swerve out of the way without striking a person or vehicle. That is the price you pay for driving. But I still choose to do it anyway, and I still call myself a vegan.

Sayward, don’t be so hard on yourself. I say, 99.5% vegan is good enough. We have to let the other 0.5% slide, or we’ll all go nuts. If you are offered a wad of cash to do something that is only slightly problematic, do it. it’s when someone shows up and asks you to shill for a beef jerky company that also uses tons of preservatives that you should start to feel guilty about it.

I’ve been thinking more about this, and I have one thing to add. You titled your post “This is probably why I have no money,” and it’s funny – even the way that’s stated implies that the blame is on you for being too staunch, too willfully attached to your principles, but the blame shouldn’t be on you at all in this case. You’re a victim of circumstance, financially and ethically, whether or not you decide to go for it. That’s the cold fact. Yes, you have the small amount of privilege that comes from even being approached in the first place, but that’s still privilege that’s being decided by a system in which you have very little to no power. It’s awful to think of oneself as a victim of the global finance and corporate titans, but that’s the situation for the vast, vast majority of the world.

Perhaps it’s time to stop living our selfish consumer lifestyles with the reward mentality that has driven our culture to such extreme destruction that it has. I’m not coming down on you Seyward in fact I think you’re courageous for asking. I think you would get spiritual satisfaction from not accepting their offer(and I’m from Maine! Though damn Colgate for taking it outta of the poor state). Anyway I think you would get material satisfaction from accepting their offer do it’s up to you what feeling you want.

I agree! Plus you said you use the product yourself so I say go for it!

Good lord. You have a child to support and you need to pay your bills. If the fact that Tom’s is owned by Colgate isn’t enough to stop you from using the product, why would it stop you from writing for them?

I’m really not trying to be rude, just…. logical. Do what is best for you and do what you can for the world in the meantime. We can’t all be martyrs with no money just because the world is a crazy, complicated, and corrupt place. We can do a lot, but we can’t do everything.

Hi it’s me again, just wanted to add that nothing is black and white. Go with your intuition, if we can really hear it it never lies

(I’m a little late to the commenting phase, oops) Tricky situation. I say do it. Not only because it will draw attention to a good vegan product but it would also bring attention to you as a entertainer (of sorts) and a rep of the vegan community. I understand your hesitation with the larger corporation being non-vegan but I feel confident in you and your values of compassion and wellness.