The Road to Hell and Bad Marketing: Interview with Nick Asbury

Ron and Ed welcome Nick Asbury to a conversation about his book, The Road to Hell: How purposeful business leads to bad marketing and a worse world And how human creativity is the way out. 

From the book jacket

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, says the proverb. Never has that been truer than in the case of corporate purpose, the movement that took over the business and advertising world following the financial crisis of 2008.

Guided by the mantra ‘do well by doing good’, businesses embraced a social purpose agenda that sought to align doing good for society with doing well in the marketplace. The result, according to author Nick Asbury, has been a wave of humourless and hubristic advertising, and a spiral of worse social outcomes, as businesses wade into issues beyond their remit, while neglecting their real ethical responsibilities.

Diving into examples including Bud Light, Patagonia, Cadbury and Unilever, Nick Asbury builds a compelling case against purpose – covering what it is, where it came from, how it leads to worse marketing, and how it leads to worse social outcomes. As a positive alternative, he makes the case for creativity, cognitive empathy and valuing the human over the corporate. 

Amid the fierce and topical debate about purpose and corporate politics, The Road to Hell is a sharp and entertaining intervention, shedding light on how we got here – and where we go next.