Has socially responsible marketing gone too far?

I’m sure I’m not alone in noticing that brands are rushing in bigger numbers to attach themselves to the latest worthy cause or issue in the hope that we think better of them by association, rather than selling themselves on any worthwhile brand benefits. But this really did become apparent when judging the Direct category at the recent Eurobest awards.
I even found myself puzzled as to what half the ads that we judged were trying to sell.
This isn’t necessarily a new tren