Human trafficking in Nike's sweatshop factory in Malaysia

Nike - Just Do It (Parody)

Dispatches: Fashion's Dirty Secret

Peek inside the average woman's wardrobe and it will be packed full of trendy high street clothes emulating the latest catwalk fashion - all bought at just a fraction of the price. My wardrobe is no different. A pair of £7 skinny jeans, t-shirts that cost no more than a few quid and a favourite dress which I grabbed for just under a tenner. High street fashion is in its heyday because now we can all have the latest designer trends at bargain prices.

But what's the real cost? Dispatches has discovered that fashion has a dirty secret - there's a hidden cost to cheap clothes and it's a human one.

Ethical Trade Initiative

Good video on what ethical trade initiative have achieved...

Join(RED) Long Video

Dove Campaign for Real Beauty

This is perhaps the smartest piece of CSR I've ever seen.

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is almost scarily good as it picked up so well on the recent backlash against advertising in fashion and cosmetics retail. The idea of women feeling good about their body whether they're fat,thin,young or old was quite revolutionary as it totally subverted all the other messages coming from advertising - which usually promoted the idea of the comsumers imperfection.

Taking responsibility for the messages they send out as a company - messages that are easily picked up by young girls - is another form of CSR.

British American Tobacco Held Responsible

“If they have 15% of the world market then they are responsible for 15% of the world's tobacco deaths, three quarters of a million deaths every year.”

On Ash.org.uk


These activist are out to make British American Tobacco responsible for the impact that their products have.

This is a perfect example of how consumers and activits are beginning to question the operations of companies they feel are having a negative impact on the world.