This study examines two marketing campaigns on the social media platform Twitter by the brand Nike, with the campaigns involving American football player Colin Kaepernick and tennis player Serena Williams respectively. The study specifically explores how Nike utilizes socially and politically progressive values in these marketing   campaigns and how users then respond to it on Twitter, with the source material consisting of four Twitter-posts, two by Nike and one each by the two athletes involved, as well as the replies by other Twitter-users to those posts. The replies to these four Twitter-posts were then sorted into reply types for each post, in other words categorized according to the sentiments and attitudes in the replies that were most prominently and frequently expressed. A grounded theory approach was used thereafter in order to apply relevant theoretical perspectives to the reply types and original posts, through which the source material was split into several analytical themes. The theoretical perspectives used in the analysis were Rosalind Gill’s postfeminist sensibility, Ron Von Burg and Paul E. Johnson’s writings on nostalgia as a critical perspective, Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s floating signifier concept, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva¨s racial grammar theory, Susan Cahn’s writings on female athlete stereotypes, and Lauren Copeland’s writings on postmaterialism. The analysis showed that Nike utilized socially progressive causes such as racial and gender equality in an individualistic way by conveying them through the identities of Williams and Kaepernick in their Twitter-posts. It also showed that the replies to the marketing in turn also focused on the identities of the athletes, with repliers either declaring their approval or disapproval of Nike and their marketing campaigns based on whether they were ethically and ideologically aligned with the progressive causes and values that the athletes were proxies for in their respective marketing campaigns. Ultimately, this study revealed an individualization of political expression on social media, both when a corporation like Nike uses it to improve their brand image and in how individuals engage with political and social issues.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are man-made fluorinated compounds that havebeen detected in humans, the environment, and wildlife. The strong C-F bonds contribute tothe high thermal stability of some PFASs and make them extremely resistant to degradationunder normal environmental conditions. The commonly studied classes of PFASs areperfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids and perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids. Though the phase-out ofperfluorooctane sulfonic acid and perfluorooctanoic acid for some time, they were the mostfrequent compounds measured and detected in biota.In this study, the total oxidisable precursor (TOP) assay, which is a method used to indirectlymeasure and estimate PFAS precursors, was evaluated. Different parameters were studied tounderstand their effects on oxidation of precursor compounds following TOP assay method(e.g., oxidation rate, pH of the oxidation solution and different washing steps during solidphaseextraction)The results from this experiment showed that the target precursors were oxidised and part ofthe proportion of the compounds formed ranged from 37 to 100% (molar ratio). Whenperforming TOP assay, it was shown that some precursors oxidised before 0.5 h while otherprecursors were oxidised after 4 hours. However, it was still unknown what products wereformed when some precursors were oxidised e.g., 7:3 fluorotelomer carboxylic acid (7:3-FTCA) and 10:2 fluorotelomer unsaturated carboxylic acid (10:2- FTUCA) because of animbalance of precursors to degradation products (molar to molar ratio).When the washing steps for solid-phase extraction were evaluated for potential losses ofprecursors, it could be seen that the ammonium acetate and the 20% methanol in Milli-Q waterled to the loss of some precursors. These results showed precautions were needed wheninterpreting the results using TOP assay.

Date: 3 June Level: Master Thesis in Business Administration, 15 credits Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University Authors: Paul Kato (95/03/11) and Henrik Aronsson (95/10/29) Title: Brand Activism, does it work? Tutor: Edward Gillmore Keywords: Brand activism, brand equity, social activism, attitudes, woke washing Research questions: a. How is the consumer-based brand equity affected by a company’s use of social activism in its marketing? b. How does this in turn affect consumer purchasing engagement? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how consumers respond tosocial activism advertisements and how it influences their purchaseengagement. Method: The method used in this thesis is a quantitative research with anabductive research approach. The data has been collected through anonline survey and received 504 responses. Conclusion: Advertising that contains social activism has an overly positive impact onconsumer attitudes, purchasing engagement, and corporate consumerbasedbrand equity.

This paper examines images used to market clothing lines by the affordability-centered Swedish food company Eldorado as well as from the luxury fashion brands Prada and Gucci. Through a qualitative socio-semiotic approach, the images are compared and analyzed in relation to the contemporary societal context of a westernized and postmodern consumer culture. At the basis of the analysis is the theoretical framework of Pierre Bourdieu concerning taste and class, as well as writings on postmodernism and class in relation to counter-hegemonic consumerism. Findings suggest that the luxury fashion brands exhibit a distinction of taste tied to affluency, whereas Eldorado can be interpreted as ironizing tropes and clichés seen in such imagery. A discussion is subsequently raised, debating the paradox of inserting counter-cultural values into the marketing of commodified goods.

Woke-washing gives companies the possibility to take advantage of the consumers social, environmental, and political values to improve business. In contrast to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and green-washing, woke-washing is a new term in the global north andthere is a lack of understanding to what extent it is relevant to the global south contexts. The purpose of this study was to explore how, and to what extent woke-washing arguments are usedwithin the published peer-review literature focusing on CSR discourse among business firms with operations in developing countries. The study was conducted through a structured literature review and an interpretative content analysis, and the results were discussed with thehelp of intersectionality and the decolonial approach of border thinking. This study concludes that arguments related to woke-washing are to be found within the literature on companies CSRoperations in developing countries. However, the power structures that affects who conduct the “washing” vary across developing countries. The woke-washing phenomenon that connects to the arguments in the literature shows that through CSR-initiatives companies, operating indeveloping countries, try to satisfy consumers. Since the values of the consumer in the global north differs from the values in the global south, the consumer from the global north alsocontributes to woke-washing. This is not true for all CSR-operations by businesses in the global south, however, it is a large enough occurrence that the discussion needs more attention in future research.

PCBs are recalcitrant compounds of no known natural origin that persist in the environment despite their ban by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 1979 due to negative health effects. Transport of PCBs from elastic sealants into concrete, brick, and granite structures has resulted in the need for a technology capable of removing these PCBs from the materials. This research investigated the use of a nonmetal treatment system (NMTS) and an activated metal treatment system (AMTS) for the remediation and degradation of PCBs from concrete, brick, and granite affixed with PCB-laden caulking. The adsorption of PCBs onto the components of concrete and the feasibility of ethanol washing were also investigated. NMTS is a sorbent paste containing ethanol, acetic acid, and fillers that was developed at the University of Central Florida Environmental Chemistry Laboratory for the in situ remediation of PCBs. Combining NMTS with magnesium results in an activated treatment system used for reductive dechlorination of PCBs. NMTS was applied to laboratory-prepared concrete as well as field samples by direct contact as well as by a novel sock-type delivery. The remediation of PCBs from field samples using NMTS and AMTS resulted in a 33-98% reduction for concrete, a 65-70% reduction for brick, and an 89% reduction in PCB concentration for granite. The limit of NMTS for absorption of Aroclor 1254 was found to be roughly 22,000 mg Aroclor 1254 per kg of treatment system or greater. The activated treatment system resulted in a 94% or greater degradation of PCBs after seven days with the majority of degradation occurring in the first 24 hours. The adsorption of PCBs to individual concrete components (hydrated cement, sand, crushed limestone, and crushed granite) was found to follow the Freundlich isotherm model with greater adsorption to crushed limestone and crushed granite compared to hydrated cement and iv sand. Ethanol washing was shown to decrease the concentration of laboratory-prepared concrete by 68% and the concentration of PCBs in the ethanol wash were reduced by 77% via degradation with an activated magnesium system.

Följande studie undersöker ifall woke-washing förekommer eller inte i Belvedere Vodkas reklamfilm Belvedere Present Daniel Craig, Directed by Taika Waititi: Director’s Cut där Daniel Craig spelar rollen som ‘sig själv’ men samtidigt förklaras ha blivit humoristiskt koreograferad. Detta görs genom frågeställningarna: “Hur representeras maskulinitet genom framförande och kostym av Daniel Craig i rollen som ‘sig själv’?” samt “Hur tolkas gestaltningen av mansrollerna när Belvedere Vodka beskriver Craig som humoristiskt koreograferad?”. Genom en kvalitativ sociosemiotisk analys studeras ett urval där det genom resultatet tolkas som att det sker en stereotypisering av både hypermaskulinitet och queer maskulinitet i syfte att ifrågasätta genus som social konstruktion. Analysen kommer dock fram till slutsatsen att Belvedere Vodka är mer engagerade i att bevara en stereotypisk relation mellan man och sprit snarare än hur mansrollerna representeras. Konsekvensen av detta blir att repliken “Finally” misstolkas (i jämförelse med produktionsteamets uttalade syfte), vilket leder till att den flamboyanta gestaltningen upplevs som förminskande och avskräckande i jämförelse med den heteronormativa mansrollen. Diskussionen kommer slutligen fram till att en marginaliserad grupp ännu en gång inte får möjligheten att representera sig själv, samtidigt som behovet av att kategorisera sexuell orientering för att kunna avgöra ifall appropriering sker eller inte blir fortsatt problematisk.  Medieproduktionen som framförs i designdokumentationen baseras på en studie i sexuell hälsa och hur visuell kommunikation gällande detta ämne riktar sig till ungdomar. Medieproduktionen är utförd av Jennie Eklund, Amanda Lindh och Helena Ljunggren.

The aim for this study is to research Oatlys advertising campaign Help Dad from the perspective of how their values concerning sustainability are shown through the campaign. Based on the findings and result of the analysis, a discussion is held on if and how Oatly create discussions within society. The empirical material for the study is the Help Dad campaign which consists of four television commercials and an editorial piece from The Guardian. To examine the material, the critical discourse analysis along with the multimodal critical discourse analysis is applied. Interdiscursivity, theories in framing, semiotic theories and concepts in brand communications are used to understand Oatlys campaign, to deepen the discussion on how they market their values. The results show that Oatly equip a type of woke branding and even some “woke-washing” aimed to make a statement and seemingly influence young people to discuss sustainability with their parents. Parents are portrayed as unaware of social and political struggles in the world, while youths are portrayed as clever and strong. Oatly uses different techniques to build a loyal and friendly relationship to their young audience, while trying to convince them to take on more power within their family. They also send a strong message which shows their negative views on dairy products, by comparing drinking milk to alcohol abuse. Lastly Help Dad is criticized for capitalizing on difficult issues and because of the polarizing rhetoric used throughout the campaign. Even though the campaign has gotten a lot of negative reactions, Oatly won a prestigious marketing prize for the commercials. Since this campaign can be seen as polarizing and capitalizing on vulnerable groups, it sets a tone that doesn’t seem like the direction marketing should strive for.

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This thesis investigates the optimization of washing techniques before bleaching a pulp produced using ionic liquids. One pulp is from softwood and the other from wheat straw. Through experiments with varied temperatures and concentrations, the effectiveness of different washing conditions was evaluated, focusing on their impact on kappa number, viscosity, yield and reject amount for the softwood pulp. The wheat straw pulp was studied using the same optimal washing conditions that gave the best results for the softwood pulp. The results showed that washing at 75°C with 1.5% NaOH was the most effective. After washing, the softwood pulp had a kappa number of 20.0 and a viscosity of 162 mL/g. For the wheat straw pulp, the best result was a wash with 1.5% NaOH at 75°C, resulting in a kappa number of 16.2 and a viscosity of 446 mL/g. The washing process proved effective on a laboratory scale and the next step will be to conduct pilot-scale trials. The trials so far show that there is potential to scale up the washing of pulp produced by ionic liquid-based cooking. After washing, bleaching was performed using sodium chlorite. This method was suitable for laboratory-scale experiments, leading to a kappa number reduction from 20.0 down to 0.39 for the softwood pulp, with a viscosity loss from 162 mg/L down to 152 mL/g and a brightness of ISO 85%. For the wheat straw pulp, the kappa number decreased from 16.2 down to 0.62, the viscosity fall to 272 mL/g from 446 mg/L and the brightness reached ISO 76%. The study demonstrates that washing parameters can be optimized to achieve high brightness of the final bleached pulp without significantly altering its physical properties. The kappa number decreases while the viscosity remains relatively stable for the soft wood pulp, indicating that the process can consistently produce the same results. The wheat straw pulp lost viscosity from a high level. Loss of viscosity must be expected in some extent. The insights from this study reveal that pulp produced with ionic liquids can be washed and bleached effectively under control. The control of loss of viscosity is crucial for industrial applications. Future process development will require efficient chemical recovery. It is not possible to have wastes out of the process. It will be essential to close the process and it will ensure the sustainability of the process.