Are Brands Good? And does it matter?

by RICHARD HUNT

Last month, I caught Grayson Perry’s Are You Good? at the New Wimbledon Theatre. The artist and social observer posed a brilliantly disarming question: what does it actually mean to be “good”? Not in the philosophical sense, but in the everyday, slightly chaotic way we all quietly judge ourselves and each other. The show unfolded through live polling, songs, and stories designed to expose how slippery the idea of goodness really is.

One moment, we were voting on whether reading books makes you a good person (the answer is yes, until you remember most people buy their books on Amazon), the next, we were asked what was more annoying – war, climate change, or gender reveal announcements. While the latter took the win, war and climate change did rack up the votes, a keen reminder of how easily we confuse intention with impact, and how goodness can be performed without necessarily being examined.

A central theme, however, was perspective. Perry showed us a picture of a bird staring through two bars, convinced it was trapped, never realising that if it simply shifted sideways, the cage opened. A “good” metaphor for how often we feel virtuous or victimised, entirely based on the angle we’re looking from.

And it’s a useful lens for thinking about brands. The idea of a “good brand” has become part of modern culture. Sometimes expressed through positive messaging, sometimes through community-focused initiatives, sometimes through bold, systemic action. Brands like Dove build goodness around self-esteem; Patagonia embeds it into environmental warrior-like behaviour; Amazon and Tesla, often seen as ‘not good’ in a social or ethical context, express their virtues differently. It’s about innovation, access, progress, and convenience. Each inhabits its own version of “good” because audiences value different things: empowerment, sustainability, speed, ambition, affordability, technological advancement.

This matters because people make choices for multiple reasons, not all of them moral. Convenience can outweigh principle; aspiration can overshadow scrutiny. And so perhaps, a brand’s role isn’t to chase moral purity but to understand the context in which it operates, and to decide what “good” looks like within its own world as authentically and consistently as it can.

Ultimately, goodness becomes less about proving virtue and more about offering perspective: showing up thoughtfully, acting with intent, and recognising that the space between good and bad is far more nuanced, human, and interesting than we often admit.