Organization Studies 2014, Vol. 35(2) 209–231 © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0170840613511925 www.egosnet.org/os Branding Atrocity: Narrating Dark Sides and Managing Organizational Image Sara Louise Muhr Copenhagen Business School, Denmark Alf Rehn Åbo Akademi University, Finland Abstract Research on the dark side of organizations has usually focused on atrocities committed by organizations or specific persons within them. Less attention has been paid to how organizations can utilize atrocities they had no part in creating. In this article, the manner in which atrocities can be utilized, managed and narrated in corporate image-work is discussed through two empirical illustrations: The Body Shop’s campaign against trafficking, and a campaign by a social movement organization to curb violence towards women in Congo. The article argues that analyzing differences in how organizations choose and position external atrocities in their branding can benefit our understanding of both organizational image-work and the dark side of organization. Keywords atrocity, branding, image-management, narratives, organizational texts Introduction Nadine holds onto my hand as if she were drowning in a tsunami of memory. As devastated as she is, it is clear that she needs to be telling this story, needs me to listen to what she is saying. She closes her eyes and says something I cannot believe I’m hearing. “One of the soldiers cut open a pregnant woman,” she says. “It was a mature baby and they killed it. They cooked it and forced us to eat it”. (Nadine, rape victim in Congo, cited in Ensler, 2007) Following the emergence of critical management studies (Alvesson & Willmott, 1996) and a mul- titude of engagements with the problems stemming from an overly rationalistic and economistic approach to organization (Raufflet & Mills, 2009), the existence of a “dark side of organization” Corresponding author: Sara Louise Muhr, Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School, Kilen, Kilevej 14A 4, 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark. Email: slm.ioa@cbs.dk 511925OSS 35 2 10.1177/0170840613511925Organization StudiesMuhr and Rehn research-article 2014 Article