Rachel Palekar - Blog 4

TTIY:

The health of Burt’s Bees as a company naturally relies on the health of nature’s honeybees. Recently, there has been a decline in the health of these pollinators. Burt’s Bees recognizes and acknowledges this in its 2013 news release: BURT’S BEES® WILD FOR BEES® PROGRAM PROTECTS NATURE’S TINY FOODIES. The facts behind their powerful desire to help increase the health of these bees can be felt through the following quote: “Bees are the reason Burt’s Bees exists. Co-founder Burt Shavitz’s hives made the wax in our first products—and bees continue to inspire our culture, our products and our vision for a more sustainable world,” says Burt’s Bees Director of Sustainable Business, Paula Alexander, and “A world without bees is simply unimaginable. We won’t let it happen.” Because of recent conditions that are unsuitable for bee health, there have been major declines in the honeybee population. In efforts to help the bees, Burt’s Bees is giving away packets of bee-friendly flower seeds in order to cultivate more food for the hungry bees. Additionally, the company wants to utilize sustainable agriculture to create ten thousand acres of “healthy pollinator forage” through the Burt’s Bees Greater Good Foundation. 

The Daily Beast displayed an article about Burt of Burt’s Bees in September of this year. I learned that while Burt retains rights to his name and image being used for the company branding, he no longer has any equity in the company! I found this to be a bit surprising. As the article disclosed, Burt and Roxanne had a relationship that ended quite horribly, causing Roxanne to run off with the company, leaving Burt with nothing besides his house and land. Burt was able to win over four million dollars from Roxanne, which now seems like an insignificant amount compared to the current worth of the company. To most people, this would be an upsetting occurrence, especially since Clorox Company bought Burt’s Bees for $925 million dollars in 2007. Burt, however, took this in stride  and said, “What do I need it for, millions of dollars?” he asks. “It just sounds like problems with the IRS to me.”

Current Event:

I love to see when technological advancements span through completely different fields. In the article “An App that Saved 10,000 Lives,” author Amy O’Leary describes how thousands of people have received life-saving advice from doctors through an app. The app called HealthTap allows doctors and patients to interact in a real-time forum, allowing for multiple perspectives and answers for frustrated patients. Similar to advertising, this app uses behavioral psychology to attract users based on respectable accolades that the physicians earn through participation in the app. Using respectable, academic terms instead of imagery and silly prizes acceptable in less serious apps, makes HealthTap more appealing and credible to all of its users.