Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Product Red: Conscientious Commerce. posted by Richard Seymour
Guest post from Guy Taylor:Bono is officially launching Product Red tomorrow (Wednesday 1 March). First vaunted at a press conference at the World Economic Forum in January, product Red is a promotion four "iconic brands":
GAP
A company pressurised by anti-capitalists over recent years because of their use of sweatshop labour. Now waving policy about labour rights and conditions, but all of their clothing being produced by outsourced labour, one step away from GAP being directly responsible for the workers and their rights. Certainly many recent studies of conditions in this sector have been far from favourable.
Andrew Rolfe, the president of GAP bragged about the amount of importing from Africa especially Lesotho. The t shirt available from 1 March in the UK, a 'portion of the profit' will go back to Africa in the form of donations to the Product Red campaign, cue celebrations on the streets of Lesotho.
AMERICAN EXPRESS
Part of the board of American Enterprise Institute, an organisation that sets out to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism--limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and responsibility, the group takes aim at NGOs and the do gooders world of civil society.
The press conference of Product Red is good entertainment. Most enjoyable is probably the marvellous cameo (about 6 minutes in) of John Harris Chief Marketing Officer of American Express. Never before has there been a man so much in need of acting lessons when it comes to "emotion: sincerity"
EMPORIO ARMANI
I really know nothing about this company, but suffice to say the very presence of Armani shows what this exercise is all about - guilt relief for the rich and aspiring middle classes. Again, the fact they chose to launch at the WEF speaks volumes, at the same time as tens of thousands of people were gathering in Caracas for the World Social Forum.
CONVERSE
Dave Maddocks, the chief marketing officer of converse gives AmEx's Harris a run for his money on the WEF video. Perhaps most charmingly there is the new product from Converse. A sneaker, or trainer is you like, made of mud cloth from Mali. "Mud cloth carries the symbols and stories of [indigenous] people of Mali..." It is used at important times in people's lives "at birth, at marriage, at death and again at birth..." it is used to make baby clothes and wedding outfits.
Guess what? Yeah, they're making training shoes out of the stuff now!
Bobby Shriver the CEO of Red wants the range of products to be sustainable "by sustainable we mean profitable to the companies which will lead to investment in these brands". Forget all that fair trade and environment shit, hey Bobby!
"We're not endorsing these products, in fact these products are endorsing us."says Bono on the day these products get the promotional exposure money cannot buy.
Fuck even the weakest attempts of NGOs and campaigners, you can buy into our exploitation of the world's resources and people and think you're doing the opposite.
Give. Me. Strength. The man who could write a cheque to relieve a good proportion of the suffering in Africa and refused to even mention the war (some of the people he works with started it), is at it again. Once you've bought your t shirt, got your credit card or wrapped your feet in mud cloth, you can rest easy - you done your bit.