Victoria’s Secret purchasing ‘free trade cotton’ that is not as free as one may think

Customers were jolted to a rude awakening when Victoria’s Secret was discovered purchasing their fair trade cotton from fair trade farms, notorious for their exploitation of slave labour. When directly approached about the topic, the company, instead of facing the public, shook off the questions as if they had not heard properly and carried on. Furthermore, Victoria’s Secret has since then done little to correct their behaviour.

A child laborer carries a basket of fair-trade organic cotton in Burkina Fatso. Photo courtesy of Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg.
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The company’s actions have shaken the trust of one of their most important external stakeholders: their customers. And as the stakeholder theory states, all stakeholders are equally important and one unstable stake hold could induce significant damage on a business.

What has happened has happened and cannot be changed but it is how the problem is dealt with that is of the essence. I am extremely disappointed in the company’s poor follow up on the matter. They appear neither concerned nor genuinely sorry. Who do they think they’re hiding from?

Ethics of business is becoming more and more of a problem and consumers are steadily losing trust in the business world. It is time to stop thinking solely about the money and maybe that way, the whole world will profit from good intentions.

Original Source (can be found on page 2 if directed to page 1): http://www.businesspundit.com/5-giant-companies-who-use-slave-labor/?img=42010