Essay: Nike and Sweatshops: The Consumer’s Role in Supporting Unethical Labor Practices

So, the problem for Nike is that people are associating them with sweatshops, factories that has workers who are under paid and have bad working conditions. We all know it is true, but we still want to have the product as cheap as possible. Therefore, we can all talk about how bad Nike are, but really, it is we the consumers, that have chosen to buy Nike product, knowing that they use sweatshops. It is as if we do not know it, we just ignore and tend to think it is not our problem. However, it is our choice to buy Nike products, and with that, we are kind of supporting the use of sweatshops, that makes it our problem.
However, why it is so important than when we think Nike we do not think sweatshop? Because Nike do not want the consumer to feel bad, when buying Nike products, it is not pleasant going into a shop and buying knowing that underpaid kids has work under horrible conditions to make the product you are buying like it is nothing. It is also because they have so much stuff going on, that we do not notice the little things like this. To some people it is a great deal, that the product is Fairtrade and that, and some could not give a rat’s ass about it.
Because they make a great deal of efforts not to get associated with these shops, and not just covering it up, they try turn the media on something positive they are doing somewhere else in the western world. They also keep denying it and showing how they are controlling the factories conditions and wages, because every time the media or someone else post something about Nike and sweatshop, people go crazy about it, like they just got to know about it now. So again, Nike rush in defense, denies everything and show new positive controlling at their factories.
They are doing a great job doing it, because you and I still wear Nike, and they are still one of the biggest sportswear companies. Movies still show Nike clothes in them, football clubs still make sponsor deals with them and we still wear it. So if you really wanted Nike to change this, why are you wearing Nike clothes still?
“Letter from Nike”
Nike UK
35 Maiden Lane
London WC2
10 May 2001
Sports life
Att.: Tim O’Malley
123 Abbey St. Upper
EI Dublin 2
I am very sorry, that the article in the Irish Times has giving bad publicity and a direct decrease in
the sales.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with you in, that we should have solved the problem with the personalized text on the shoes faster and better. The matter was that nobody had imagined that somebody would take advantage of this possibility to a protestation against Nike.
As regards to our image, I would like to underline that Nike today are one of the companies, who do the most to improve both the working conditions and the wages for the employees. Furthermore, we make sure to monitor that the agreements will be observed and fulfilled. In fact, our wages are above the average of the local wages and it would be unfair competition towards the local companies, if we pressed the wages further up.
However, your application shows clearly that Nike still has an image problem, and therefore I have sent your letter further to our headquarters.
Yours Faithfully,
Nike UK
Yvonne Waniuk
“Letter from Nike retailer”
Sports life
123 Abbey St. Upper
EI Dublin 2
10 May 2001
Nike UK
35 Maiden Lane
London WC2
Dear Madam Waniuk,
I’m writing to you about the recent media and publicity there has been around Nike shoes. It has cause many problems for me, and a direct decrease in sales. I have been contacted by up to several consumers of Nike shoes, and let me tell you this, they are not happy, not about the recent talk about Nike’s use of sweatshops and the bad handling of the Perreti’s personal shoe texts.
To be honest I could not give a rat’s ass about it, but my costumers does and that means I do. The shoe market is a tuff market and I did not come all this way for you to ruin this for me. I had one costumer coming in, and she wanted to return her 2 years old shoes, because of the way they were made.
A good image is relevant for our company. Our sale is highly dependent on our image and when we have received bad publicity, it is important for us to improve our image. I suggest that we can start developing a perfect monitoring system. We could on the same time prove, that we are not connected with sweatshop. Another suggestion is that we can make an advertisement campaign, were we persuade our customers to wear Nike. While the campaign is in action, we could take advantage of the time and we could improve our position by developing new-technological shoes. I hope you will consider my suggestions or otherwise I hope that I have encouraged you to see it from a different perspective, which maybe could result in an approval of the solutions.