Introduction
The modern market is undergoing a transformation from pure profit toward "moral marketing." This phenomenon, described by Vivek Ramaswamy as Prestige, involves creating an illusion where a product ceases to be a mere object and becomes a tangible sign of virtue. This article analyzes how these mechanisms influence public debate, why ESG is currently undergoing a fundamental stress test, and how EU regulations, such as CSRD and DSA, are attempting to replace image-driven theater with hard data. You will learn how to distinguish real responsibility from socialwashing and why transparency is the only antidote to corporate illusions.
Prestige and "Woke" Consumerism as Mechanisms of Division
The concept of Prestige is marketing’s "third act," where an ordinary product is brought back to the stage as a symbol of moral superiority. In this model, morality becomes a tactic, and real investment is replaced by a communicative spectacle. "Woke" consumerism shifts ideological disputes into shopping carts, turning brands into tribal symbols. This leads to "The Big Sort"—a voluntary segregation of lifestyles that destroys the common forum for exchanging arguments.
When the wallet becomes a megaphone, the principle of "one person, one vote" gives way to the market rule of purchasing power. This phenomenon is amplified by surveillance capitalism, as described by Shoshana Zuboff. In this system, human experience is appropriated as a free raw material for producing behavioral data. Without new rules of the game, our information infrastructure gains an "administrative entry" into the sphere of free choice, limiting individual autonomy in favor of market predictability.
Stakeholder Capitalism and the ESG Bubble Verification
Stakeholder capitalism assumes service to all social groups, which Milton Friedman criticized as a dilution of managerial accountability. Currently, the ESG bubble is undergoing a fundamental test—a period of rapid capital inflows has been followed by a cooling-off triggered by allegations of greenwashing and lower returns. Cliff Asness emphasizes that real change requires accepting a higher cost of capital; virtue without a price is merely a calculation error.
In Poland, the pillars of this transformation are banks, which integrate ESG risks into lending processes, and the energy sector. For Polish companies, decarbonization is not a matter of image, but of engineering and costs. To avoid illusion, an institutional architecture based on hard KPIs (e.g., emission intensity per unit of product) is necessary, along with linking executive compensation to measurable results rather than descriptive declarations.
Digital Regulations and Labor Ethics: USA vs. Europe
A clear difference is visible in the approach to digital platforms: the US focuses on freedom of speech and Section 230, while Europe implements the DSA and DMA. This is a procedural constitution that, instead of judging truth, imposes risk management and algorithmic transparency obligations on "gatekeepers." The EU model prioritizes procedural engineering over metaphysical disputes about the boundaries of debate.
Hard regulation also targets socialwashing, which is particularly evident in the misuse of B2B contracts. Companies often promote egalitarianism while pushing employees into self-employment, which erodes ethical labor standards and shifts risk onto the individual. Exposing such practices requires auditability: if "flexibility" masks the characteristics of an employment relationship, we are dealing with a facade. An effective shield against marketing is a system in which every moral declaration must be backed by capital expenditure (CAPEX) and an independent data audit.
Summary
In a world where corporate virtue is often just a marketing costume, are we doomed to cynicism? The answer is not a moral sermon, but system architecture: transparent data, auditable metrics, and precise procedures. Only by separating the wheat of real impact from the chaff of performative spectacle can we restore the market to its proper function. When we translate purpose into metrics and information into transparency, Prestige disappears, giving way to responsible choices and authentic corporate accountability.
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