Monthly Archives: September 2014

In Kimberly’s post, which can be found here, she makes some very valid points on why Target has failed in Canada. In my opinion, Target was doomed from the start. Growing up in Campbell River, a town of 30 000 on the island, we had always had a Zellers in one of our main shopping compounds. Now, anytime you went into Zellers you would see approximately 10 other people in the entire store at a time, staff included. Typically people would shop there only as a last resort, as the whole vibe the store gave off was just depressing. Then one day, it was gone. And guess what moved in… Target buying the Zellers location was big news in CR, and many people were very excited to have this big American retailer entering our little town. However, I was sceptical. Who said that this new Target was going to be any different that the old Zellers? What made Target so special in comparison?

Fast forward to this past Summer, when I was working at Moxie’s in the same plaza as our glorious new Target. I went inside on my breaks occasionally (because they have really good trail mix), and just like good old Zellers, I saw maybe 10 people, tops. Some people wonder what went wrong with Target, but I just wonder why anyone thought it was a good idea in the first place. Replacing one failed “super” store like Zellers with another practically identical store just does not make sense to me. Just because it is a big American company does not mean that it will offer anything more desirable to Canadian consumers… besides trail mix.

It is no secret that Lush Cosmetics has made it their mission to create natural, pure, animal cruelty free products that allows customers to feel good about their purchases from the company. However, Lush has gotten into its own fair share of controversy, not over the treatment of animals, but the treatment of one single performance artist in the UK.

The details of Lush’s controversy can be viewed here, but the basic gist of it was the performance artist being subjected to force feeding, injections, and discomfort, just as animals that undergo testing in cosmetic labs are. Though Lush was perfectly reasonable in wanting to raise awareness for such an unjust issue, some are questioning whether or not putting a human through the same torture is really a justifiable way to do so. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, as they say.

On another note, Lush’s objective for putting on such a show can also be brought into question. Though it is true that the company believes in the just treatment of animals, the “human guinea pig” stunt could be seen as more of an advertisement for Lush Cosmetics, rather than a true bid for fair treatment of animals. And when put into that perspective, mistreating a human being in order to get people to buy “ethical” products seems quite ironic, don’t you think?

It’s no secret that the Kinder Morgan Pipeline is a controversial issue within British Columbia. One of the main problems locals are having with the project is the massive impact the pipeline would have on the environment. Based on the evidence found in the attached article, it is safe to say that the ethics of Kinder Morgan as a company are extremely questionable. If a company is willing to destroy the natural beauty found within the backyards of Burnaby locals, then does it really have the best interests of potential costumers and stockholders at heart?

Though expansion is usually necessary for the growth of a company, now more than ever companies need to be careful of how they go about expanding. With deforestation being one of the major problems facing the world today, it can be said that a company (like Kinder Morgan) choosing to make expansions by contributing to this deforestation is acting in an unethical fashion. Who wants to support a company that is consciously killing the environment at a time when all it needs is to be protected? Though expansion may be a necessary step, there has to be a better way for Kinder Morgan to achieve the next level of success while still preserving the environment from which the company was born.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/kinder-morgan-pipeline-crews-to-resume-work-on-burnaby-mountain-1.2755457