REI recently announced that they will close their stores on the busiest day in retail, Black Friday. They are encouraging their customers and employees to spend time outside. REI is also paying their employees on Black Friday even though their stores will be closed.

At first, I was proud of REI for this move; Black Friday can be materialism at its worst. 

But I think REI made a poor strategic move by over-promoting this announcement and buying numerous social media advertisements for their #OptOutside campaign. REI's self-congratulatory ads have been following me around the internet for the past few days. 

Advertising about your social responsibility is really difficult to do well.

Convincing customers that you are socially responsible through advertising is like trying to convince your friends you are generous through social media posts. Both are likely to backfire. As Wharton professor Adam Grant recently wrote, you shouldn't say "I'm a giver;" that determination is for others to make.

In my opinion, praise of a company's socially responsible behavior should come primarily from its stakeholders. REI received plenty of third-party press regarding their announcement (see, e.g., here, here, and here), but their self-promotion has convinced me that this is primarily a financially-focused marketing ploy, not mainly a move to benefit society at large.

Next week, I will look at some companies that I think do a better job of building their socially responsible brand.