The periodical Ethical Corporation has a special report on the relationship between corporate responsibility campaigns and public relations firms. It questions whether PR firms should be guiding corporations in their social responsibility programs, since PR is a profession “preoccupied with symbolism, imagery and perception rather than substance.”

There’s a simple answer to this question: No. A PR firm should not run your company’s social responsibility program. That PR-first approach is what leads ExxonMobil to address the legitimate concerns of environmentalists by starting a “Save the Tiger” campaign to protect endangered bengal tigers. Get it? The tiger is ExxonMobil’s mascot! How “preoccupied with symbolism rather than substance” is that?

The correct way to do social responsibility is better exemplified by ExxonMobil’s competitor, BP, which has worked hard to present itself as enlightened on environmental issues — principally global warming. BP’s efforts start with the CEO and have substance behind them. I don’t doubt that BP’s PR team played an important role in the development of its strategy — it should have — but not the leading role.