Even if you think you have a good reason to use EA in your marketing, you should still get CEA’s permission first.
I strongly disagree with the idea that CEA (or any person or entity) should have that kind of ownership over “effective altruism”. It’s not a brand, but a concept whose boundaries are negotiated by a wide variety of actors.
Suppose you saw a commercial on TV. At the end of the commercial a voice says “brought to you by Effective Altruism”. The heart-in-lightbulb logo appears on screen for several seconds.
I actually did hear of a case of a rando outside the community grabbing a Facebook page for “Effective Altruism”, gaining a ton of followers, and publishing random dubious stuff.
You can insist EA isn’t a brand all you want, but someone still might use it that way!
I’m not super attached to getting permission from CEA in particular. I just like the idea of EAs starting more companies, and dislike the idea of them often advertising those companies as EA?
Maybe a good thing to point out is that while the survival criterion for nonprofits is donation (i.e. almost by definition nonprofits must achieve the approval of philanthropists), the survival criterion for companies is profitability. Imagine “Superstimulus Slot Machines Inc.” puts the EA logo on the side of their machine and runs a bunch of commercials explaining how all profits go to EA charities. This might be a really profitable business, and become the first thing people think of when they hear “EA”, without any EA outside the company ever signing on. [Note: Please don’t start this company, there are many better business ideas that don’t involve harming people!]
If the process for making this sort of corporate branding decision is fuzzy, it becomes easier for people to tilt it in their favor. So I think an explicit process makes sense, for the same reason it makes sense to preregister data analysis code before data gets collected. If you don’t like the “ask CEA” process, maybe you could suggest an alternative and explain why it’s better?
My suggestion would be to have no process other than general social sanctions. I don’t think it makes sense to make any person or entity an authority over “effective altruism” any more than it would make sense to name a particular person or entity an authority over the appropriate use of “Christian” or “utilitarian”.
I believe you’re introducing a new kind of connection when you talk about usage of the heart-in-lightbulb image. I couldn’t tell you who originally produced that image, but I assume it was connected to CEA. I agree that using an image with strong associations with a particular organization that created it might morally require someone to check in with the organization even if the image wasn’t copyrighted.
I believe effective altruism benefits strongly from the push and pull of different thinkers and organizations as they debate its meaning and what’s effective. Some stuff people do will seem obviously incongruous with the concept and in such cases it makes sense for people to express social disapproval (as has been done in the past).
I strongly disagree with the idea that CEA (or any person or entity) should have that kind of ownership over “effective altruism”. It’s not a brand, but a concept whose boundaries are negotiated by a wide variety of actors.
Suppose you saw a commercial on TV. At the end of the commercial a voice says “brought to you by Effective Altruism”. The heart-in-lightbulb logo appears on screen for several seconds.
I actually did hear of a case of a rando outside the community grabbing a Facebook page for “Effective Altruism”, gaining a ton of followers, and publishing random dubious stuff.
You can insist EA isn’t a brand all you want, but someone still might use it that way!
I’m not super attached to getting permission from CEA in particular. I just like the idea of EAs starting more companies, and dislike the idea of them often advertising those companies as EA?
Maybe a good thing to point out is that while the survival criterion for nonprofits is donation (i.e. almost by definition nonprofits must achieve the approval of philanthropists), the survival criterion for companies is profitability. Imagine “Superstimulus Slot Machines Inc.” puts the EA logo on the side of their machine and runs a bunch of commercials explaining how all profits go to EA charities. This might be a really profitable business, and become the first thing people think of when they hear “EA”, without any EA outside the company ever signing on. [Note: Please don’t start this company, there are many better business ideas that don’t involve harming people!]
If the process for making this sort of corporate branding decision is fuzzy, it becomes easier for people to tilt it in their favor. So I think an explicit process makes sense, for the same reason it makes sense to preregister data analysis code before data gets collected. If you don’t like the “ask CEA” process, maybe you could suggest an alternative and explain why it’s better?
My suggestion would be to have no process other than general social sanctions. I don’t think it makes sense to make any person or entity an authority over “effective altruism” any more than it would make sense to name a particular person or entity an authority over the appropriate use of “Christian” or “utilitarian”.
I believe you’re introducing a new kind of connection when you talk about usage of the heart-in-lightbulb image. I couldn’t tell you who originally produced that image, but I assume it was connected to CEA. I agree that using an image with strong associations with a particular organization that created it might morally require someone to check in with the organization even if the image wasn’t copyrighted.
I believe effective altruism benefits strongly from the push and pull of different thinkers and organizations as they debate its meaning and what’s effective. Some stuff people do will seem obviously incongruous with the concept and in such cases it makes sense for people to express social disapproval (as has been done in the past).