Media releases

• Shoppers Drug Mart ‘volunteer’ post sparks talks of online damage control, future of unpaid work, say Brock experts

  Tuesday, May 21, 2024 | By Brock University

  EXPERT ADVISORY: May 21 2024 – R0066

  As the month-long boycott of Loblaw-owned companies continues, its subsidiary Shoppers Drug Mart drew the ire of consumers on social media last week when one of its stores posted a LinkedIn ad for a part-time volunteer.

  Brock University Assistant Professor of Marketing Joachim Scholz says the post, which drew swift backlash online, may have gone relatively unnoticed in the past — “but not in 2024.”

  “The reason for this is the wider economic situation, as well as the massive technological changes our society faces,” says Scholz, who teaches marketing at Brock’s Goodman School of Business and specializes in social media controversies. “After years of high inflation, and with many consumers facing economic insecurity, we are all hyper-sensitive to price hikes and wage stagnation, let alone working for free.”

  Scholz says the ongoing boycott coupled with the perception that the company is price-gouging its customers “provided the background embers, which fuelled the strong reaction to Shoppers’ free-labour faux-pas.”

  Consumers are also sensitive to shifts in the labour market in general, he adds, with Shoppers Drug Mart among the many companies to replace cashiers with self-checkouts in recent years.

  “Many people are fearful about what innovations in artificial intelligence will mean about their own job prospects,” says Scholz. “Are humans being replaced? Is stocking shelves for minimum wage — or even for free — all that is going to be left for the average Joe, while companies get richer and richer thanks to AI and exploiting the many?”

  The company has indicated the ad — posted by one of its Toronto pharmacists — was an error and that they do not hire volunteers. However, Scholz says a traditional crisis management strategy of simply “apologizing and moving on” may not be good enough in today’s climate.

  “The current cultural zeitgeist is like a powder keg, ready to be blown up by any fuse that seems to indicate the everyday Joe is stiffed by massive corporations,” he says. “Compared to even 10 years ago, marketers today must be much more tuned into the zeitgeist and societal issues in order to protect and grow their brands.”

  Brock Assistant Professor of Business Ethics Francois Cote-Vaillancourt says major corporations are also bearing the brunt of evolving conversations around the future of volunteering and changing labour demands.

  Although he agrees the public should be pushing back against any abuses involving unpaid labour, rapid changes in technology and automation are going to decrease the need for human labour in the future.

  “It’s likely that for this generation, by the time they retire, there will be an economy that needs less people,” he says. “I think as a society, in the long run, we’re going to have to talk about volunteering. We have to find a way to keep humans doing meaningful things with our lives and prevent people from falling into abject poverty when the economy is not needing them.”

  As conversations around these issues intensify, the public is understandably looking for an outlet to voice their frustrations and uncertainty, Cote-Vaillancourt adds.

  “We blame the firm right now because they’re visible,” he says. “But we cannot rely on corporations to solve the long-term problem. We need to ask: what do we owe to society, and what does society owe us? We might not be able to run forever on just the idea that, through your work, you earn your income.”

  In the meantime, Scholz encourages the company to “take this seriously and use the current heat to position themselves as the ally of the average consumer.”

  “Social media firestorms carry the risk that they cast a long shadow into the future and are brought back from the ashes, over and over again. The internet does not forget.”

  Brock University Assistant Professor of Marketing Joachim Scholz and Assistant Professor of Business Ethics Francois Cote-Vaillancourt are available for media interviews on this topic.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews: 

  * Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University mstdenis@brocku.ca or 905-246-0256

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock-led conference in Yukon seeks to make rural Canada more resilient

  Friday, May 17, 2024 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: May 16 2024 – R0065

  Challenges and opportunities facing rural, northern and Indigenous communities in Canada —with a focus on the implications of remoteness for sustainable livelihoods —will be at the heart of a Brock University-led conference in Canada’s north next week.

  Kyle Rich, Associate Professor with Brock’s Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, is collaborating with the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation and Yukon University to host the Northern Dialogues Conference from Tuesday, May 21 to Friday, May 24 at Yukon University in Whitehorse.

  The conference is one of several outreach activities related to Rich’s research. He studies how community, policy and social inclusion/exclusion shape experiences in sport, recreation and physical activity programs, especially in rural and remote municipalities. Funded by the Government of Canada through a Connection Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the knowledge mobilization initiatives Rich has planned under the grant will connect academics with practitioners, policy-makers and community members invested in rural and northern issues.

  “When we talk about ‘rural,’ it’s always about distance and density,” says Rich. “Specifically, population densities or long distances to large population densities. Remoteness is the idea of being far away from other things.”

  The Northern Dialogues Conference will focus on the intersection of remoteness and sustainable livelihoods across three interrelated themes: innovation and community development; education, health and social systems; and culture, heritage and well-being.

  Topics are intentionally broad, says Rich, touching on innovation, economic development, mining, food security and welcoming newcomers into rural communities.

  “That’s the rich and interesting part of these types of meetings,” he says. “All the issues are discussed together under one roof. It’s at the core of how rural scholars and practitioners collaborate.”

  Rich will be joined by several Brock students in presenting research on the experiences of migrant health-care workers settling in rural communities; provincial sport organizations’ perspectives on rural and remote communities in Ontario; and the logistics and decision-making processes of recreation organizations in northeastern Ontario.

  Rich will also present research on the way Canada’s territories manage sport and recreation, which he says is very different than in the provinces.

  “Sport and recreation are much more closely linked in the territories and geography is an important factor in shaping these activities,” he says. “In Nunavut, for example, hockey teams may have to fly into each other’s communities to play in a tournament.”

  Conference attendees will also participate in excursions within Yukon communities, visiting local farms, hiking to an Indigenous heritage site and making a trip to Carcross to learn about the history of Yukon University and the Carcross/Tagish First Nation.

  While in-person registration is closed, virtual attendance is still welcome, which includes admittance to select sessions.

  “These interdisciplinary knowledge mobilization opportunities are so important to connect diverse audiences around themes that are important to communities,” says Rich. “With rural and remote places often being spread out and unable to connect otherwise, coming together for these discussions is even more important to support capacity building and resiliency.”

  Media are invited to attend the conference, virtually or in person.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University mstdenis@brocku.ca or 905-246-0256

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  Categories: Media releases