TOMS Shoes Controversy: Discussion into action?
In early April, social enterprise TOMS Shoes hosted an aware-raising event called “A Day without Shoes.” TOMS is basically asking its participants to not wear shoes for one day, in order to raise awareness for the millions of children who go without shoes every day in poor countries. A model for this social enterprise is the “one-for-one” approach. It means that for every pair of TOMS shoes purchased, TOMS is giving away a pair of new shoes to a child in need. By providing children with shoes, they can then go to work or school to better educate them. Shoes are clearly wanted and needed by the people TOMS is serving.
However for a normal customer that occasionally shops at TOMS, it isn’t much of a deal to pay extra dollars to get a TOMS shoes and help a child at the same time. They might be just buying the trendiness of the brand. Therefore, some criticizes that the program “dehumanizes poor people and set priorities for them”. Also, some argues that by giving shoes away, it will interfere with local shoe markets, and ultimately create more poverty. So is TOMS doing the right thing as a social enterprise?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-otto/toms-shoes-controversy-a-_b_1420366.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4VN34iCi2Q&feature=player_embedded