As a loyal shopper at Forever 21, I found Selina’s blog post on the dark side of this massive franchise very intriguing. Not surprising – I wrote a paper on sweatshops during my first year in uni – but intriguing nevertheless.
Now the true powerplay is in the hands of the marketers, specifically the PR team. How would YOU deal with this kind of negative publicity that may tarnish your brand image? The infamous Kardashians certainly aren’t a role model in PR. In 2011, their shoe lines were accused of horrific working conditions for factory employees who “often work up to 84 hours a week in non-air-conditioned facilities and earn only $1 an hour”. The rep’s response: “This story is not true.” That was it.
I’ve noticed that most companies who face issues with sweatshops try to disregard the negative media as much as possible until it goes away, like Forever 21. One company that demonstrated themselves as a role model in this kind of situation dealing with sweatshops, however, is Nike. Ironic, I know.
I’m sure most people have heard about the Nike scandal several years ago. It was one of the first companies to have their factory workers’ conditions be exposed and challenged by the public.
“Nike wasn’t the only or worst company to use sweatshops. But it was the one everybody knew.”
– Max Nisen, Business Insider
Nike initially denied these claims and shift the blame onto others, all of which resulted in even more lashbacks. Hence they adopted a comprehensive “rebranding” in terms of their corporate social responsibility and openly addressed the issue by not only releasing tons of data on their manufacturing conditions but also making public announcements on how they will improve those conditions.
Does this mean that the sweatshop practices in Nike is eradicated completely? Of course not. It’s been in place for years and there’s no easy fix for such a complex and sensitive predicament. I still do think it’s a step in the right direction, though. Change begins from the inside, and I have faith that brand management will play a powerful role in driving these companies to maintain fair and safe manufacturing practices.
Follow