Bought a pair of Toms to use as house slippers. They fell apart in a few months. Free shoes to the needy are useless if the shoes fall apart.
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The problem with Tom's Shoes and other "noble" enterprises
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Originally posted by byhand View PostBought a pair of Toms to use as house slippers. They fell apart in a few months. Free shoes to the needy are useless if the shoes fall apart.
In my defense they were nondescript and only wore them since I was able to remove the hideous branding on the back ankle and that was before I was into fashion anyways.
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Originally posted by LelandJ View PostMy mother bought me a pair of regular outdoor shoes about five years ago and they developed a huge hole in the toebox within less than a combined 90 days wear. Dunno why the landfill-fashion aspect didn't cross my mind till you mentioned it. Pretty much puts a nail in the faux-charity coffin.
In my defense they were nondescript and only wore them since I was able to remove the hideous branding on the back ankle and that was before I was into fashion anyways.
Right, the thing to do is cut off the brand tag and color in that bit in the back of the heel that reads "toms" with a black sharpie and you are good to go. I had the black burlap slipper-looking shoes, which are actually cool looking but essentially useless...and not cheap for what they are at $50. Someone somewhere is making a pile of money even with the freebies flying out of the factory. They do have a comfy insole, so I will give them that.
Bought a pair of sandals in Tanzania made from recycled car tires. Cool looking and indestructible. Plus, local craftspeople are supported with each purchase. That's the way to do it.
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Originally posted by byhand View Post
Bought a pair of sandals in Tanzania made from recycled car tires. Cool looking and indestructible. Plus, local craftspeople are supported with each purchase. That's the way to do it.
The alternative rationale underlying your comment is that tourism is the best way to support countries in need.I am not who you think I am
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Originally posted by mortalveneer View PostOne might wonder what percentage of Tom's purchasers can afford a plane ticket to Tanzania.
The alternative rationale underlying your comment is that tourism is the best way to support countries in need.
The sandals can now be found online, so no plane ticket required. The locals don't only make the sandals for tourists. They make shoes for themselves, which is how the enterprise started. Used tires are everywhere, so I guess my real and possibly more problematic point is that instead of accepting shoddy shoes from a first world business, a more sustainable and self-empowering enterprise would be teaching those in need how to make whatever is needed from local resources if such resources exist.
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From the recent New York Times article about the shopping habits of the millenials, whom companies like Tom's target.
"The do-goodish pitch is aimed squarely at millennials, who collectively favor companies that embrace the values of good citizenship. The Brookings report says millennials overwhelmingly “responded with increased trust (91 percent) and loyalty (89 percent), as well as a stronger likelihood to buy from those companies that supported solutions to specific social issues (89 percent).”"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde
StyleZeitgeist Magazine
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Bad-Aid is pretty well covered and I'm not sure there is any argument for the positives of Toms Shoes. Any aid that creates an artificial dependency is classified as 'bad-aid'. There is an entire poverty industrial complex, that includes people who sells shoes in the name of aid, people who write books in the name of aid, people who give lectures in the name of aid and consult in the name of aid.
A pretty thorough study of one aspect of 'bad-aid', and the one most pertinent to this discussion, was done in 2008. Where they examine the effect of used clothing donations to Africa.
For those of you who dont feel like wading through 35 pages of an economic study, the long and the short of it is that used clothing donations between 1981 and 2000 account for a 50% reduction in the corresponding economic sector.
There is also a good article written by an aid worker many years ago that pretty well sums up the problems of Toms Shoes on the health end of the spectrum. Also long, but a decent read for those who are interested in this.
After returning from a two-year tour with the Peace Corps I have only been home in New York for three weeks, and over the course of these th...
Lastly for those of you who feel like they know something about minimum wages in developing countries and feel compelled to get on their soap-boxes, I ask you to better inform yourselfs and do some research on things like 't-shirt economies'.Last edited by TheThief; 08-20-2014, 10:35 AM.⚡
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Hypothetically speaking there would be world peace and no poverty. Also pigs would fly and Monocle's city rankings would bear any relation to reality.Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde
StyleZeitgeist Magazine
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Come on now, the thought of a company doing what I proposed isn't really that unthinkable now, is it? I mean yeah, Tom's is doing a shitty job at being 'good' but then that's better than par for the course with corporate responsibility as a whole. That they even have a 'do-goodish' audience whom they can target gives me some hope. The audience just needs to be a touch more educated and less easily hoodwinked is all.
The other day I was in Target trying to buy some socks. But I can't bring myself to buy socks anymore that aren't at least Made in USA. I found some with Made in USA stickers, but when I peeled back the stickers, I saw Made in El Salvador. I don't know where I'm going with this, I'm just rambling at this point. I didn't buy the socks.
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Originally posted by DudleyGray View PostHypothetically speaking, if Tom's paid fair wages/working conditions, were of 'acceptable' design and quality, and had the shoes manufactured in the communities that they were trying to help, would there be anything to complain about?
There are plenty of companies who pay 'fair' wages, have good working conditions, produce products of 'acceptable' design and quality have their shoes manufactured in the communities that they are trying to help, AND dont bother beating you over the head about how much good they are doing. Because of this, we're not talking about them.
Here's one: http://nisolo.com/
Originally posted by DudleyGray View PostCome on now, the thought of a company doing what I proposed isn't really that unthinkable now, is it? I mean yeah, Tom's is doing a shitty job at being 'good' but then that's better than par for the course with corporate responsibility as a whole.⚡
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Originally posted by TheThief View PostI was just thinking how your contributions to this discussion thus far have been pretty lackluster, and then I went back and realized your contributions in general are pretty lackluster, so at least youre consistent
There are plenty of companies who pay 'fair' wages, have good working conditions, produce products of 'acceptable' design and quality have their shoes manufactured in the communities that they are trying to help, AND dont bother beating you over the head about how much good they are doing. Because of this, we're not talking about them.
Here's one: http://nisolo.com/
In response to this, the point people are discussing here is not that Toms is doing a 'shitty job at being good' but that Tom's is actually doing a great job creating a profitable business convincing people they are doing good, when in actuality they are doing legitimate harm.
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Originally posted by DudleyGray View PostCome on now, the thought of a company doing what I proposed isn't really that unthinkable now, is it? I mean yeah, Tom's is doing a shitty job at being 'good' but then that's better than par for the course with corporate responsibility as a whole. That they even have a 'do-goodish' audience whom they can target gives me some hope. The audience just needs to be a touch more educated and less easily hoodwinked is all.
The other day I was in Target trying to buy some socks. But I can't bring myself to buy socks anymore that aren't at least Made in USA. I found some with Made in USA stickers, but when I peeled back the stickers, I saw Made in El Salvador. I don't know where I'm going with this, I'm just rambling at this point. I didn't buy the socks.Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde
StyleZeitgeist Magazine
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Originally posted by TheThief View Post
In response to this, the point people are discussing here is not that Toms is doing a 'shitty job at being good' but that Tom's is actually doing a great job creating a profitable business convincing people they are doing good, when in actuality they are doing legitimate harm...Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde
StyleZeitgeist Magazine
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