In many of these countries where the Sweatshops are set-up, job opportunities are extremely scarce due to low living standards and weak economies. And it is unethical for these sweatshops to take advantage of the dire situations of these people to focus on profit gaining rather than considering the well-being of their employees.
In addition, the contrast between Disney’s projected brand image and the actual reality into making that image possible is unethical. Disney’s targeted market is children, and as you know, the Disney brand is all about happiness, family, children, childhood innocence, wonders of being a child, etc. However, the very children who are making these perception possible are suffering from complete opposite situations.
Not only is the concept of Sweatshops unethical, many of these sweatshops are unethical in operation. Audit companies check on these factories regularly for working standards and treatment of employees. However, before each inspection, notification and material will be sent out for employees to study. In particular, child workers will be coached as to how to answer, or lie, if you will, to inspectors’ questions.
Lastly, this goes against Disney’s corporate founding values. Walt Disney, an innovative animator who pioneered entertainment for children in the 1 believed and viewed children as individuals who were not inferior, but equal to adults, and had often described the minds of children as “our national treasure.” And it is unfortunate that these minds are wasted on providing cheap labour.
To conclude, I would like to leave you with a quote by Walt Disney to consider: “The problem with the world today is that people grow up, they forget what it’s like to be an 12 year-old. They patronize, and they treat children as inferiors”
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