The Philanthrophy Fad
I TOMS you TOMS we all scream for TOMS! Or is that ice cream?
It’s pretty apparent that TOMS brand shoes are popular (just count the number of them you see in one day!). Heck, even I have several pairs! But, as some may argue, they’ve got a peculiar style. Would we still buy them if it wasn’t for the “one for one” policy?
In an essay I wrote last semester, I analyzed the social trend of giving back. TOMS is probably one of the biggest examples, but also think about other examples such as t-shirts for a cause (like the tsunami relief effort in 2011). TOMS is a pretty big company; their one-millionth shoe was distributed in 2010 (although they keep their profit information private). As a University of New Mexico professor states in this article, “Although consumers tend to like purchasing from a philanthropic organization, they appear to be more financially supportive when they get something in return” (10).
On the other hand, a lot of relief aid has been given because of this philanthropic social trend, and it does a lot of good. TOMS saves children around the world from soil-transmitted disease, and allows them to go to school since shoes are often required (see page 2 of above article). I believe that our generation is more aware and mindful about social issues because of it.
I am really curious to hear everybody’s thoughts on this topic!
But also ask yourself: why is it that apparel is so popular?
Think about it.
February 8th, 2013 at 5:26 pm
I think that sometimes apparel is a way people display that they donated – not necessarily to raise awareness, but to instead broadcast themselves as a person aware of social issues. While this motive to buy such products isn’t necessarily noble, I think sometimes you have to do what it takes to raise money for an issue. The problem here, however, is that this method of gaining financial support means that people don’t always throughly research the problem or company, so it leaves the potential for fads to leave consumers thinking they’re supporting a good cause when reality they’re benefitting people’s bank accounts. If it takes a T-shirt, hey, do what you have to do to get people to ship in financially, But if products like these aren’t the BEST way to help people and are instead just the most popular, we as a society need to reassess our goals and motivations.
February 8th, 2013 at 5:42 pm
I think that sometimes apparel is a way people display what they donated – not necessarily to raise awareness, but to instead broadcast themselves as a person aware of social issues as a social status booster. While this motive to buy such products is far from noble, I think that sometimes you have to do what it takes to raise money for an issue, as money is what makes the world go round. The problem here, however, is that this method of gaining financial support means that people don’t always thoroughly research the problem or organization, so it leaves he potential for fads to leave consumers thinking they’re supporting a good cause, when in reality they’re benefiting people’s bank accounts. If it takes a T-shirt, hey, do what you have to do to get people to chip in financially. But if products like these aren’t the BEST way to help people and are instead just the most popular method, we as a society need to reassess our goals and motivations.
February 10th, 2013 at 8:43 pm
Well something I can relate to this in terms of globalization, TOMS shoes could be a commodity. The idea to have this commodity be as successful as it is now is the idea of “lifestyle branding”. Because TOMS puts themselves out there as such a giving brand, if you were wearing this shoe, whether it be TOMS or BOBs, or another sort of apparel when you wear it, you are reflecting some of the values of the brand.
February 10th, 2013 at 8:46 pm
Mimi, you bring up a good point. Like you I have a few pairs of toms, but before I knew what they stood for I never thought about buying them (I actually thought they were kind of ugly). When I found out what they actually do I changed my mind about them completely, I even got other people to buy them. I also agree with what you said about how our generation is more aware of social issues, we also tend to believe that what we do will bring about change and actually make things happen.
February 12th, 2013 at 2:25 pm
I think part of the problem with this approach is that while they may be well-meaning, that doesn’t exactly mean that what they are doing is good, or even effective. For example, with Toms, they don’t work WITH the community, they work FOR the community. The other day, in class, we discussed the different between charity and creating social change. Toms is very much on the charity side. By providing people with shoes, they don’t change anything! They are still very much impoverished. In addition, Toms undercuts shoe-makers in the countries that they are in. A better strategy would be to MAKE shoes in the countries they are trying to work with, so that the people can have jobs! Just giving people shoes is a quick fix to a long standing problem.
I don’t really like Toms as an organization in the first place, and you can read more about it here: http://goodintents.org/in-kind-donations/toms-shoes
February 13th, 2013 at 1:52 am
Thanks everyone for the reply! Annette, I really liked that blog post you linked to. It explains the importance of how bringing aid to a country isn’t as simple as giving them the “solution.” I also loved the “socially conscious shoes” link at the end of the post, I was always curious if there were any shoe companies that sustained/supported community and economy.
February 13th, 2013 at 10:57 am
I’m kind of a cynic, so the reason I feel that this fad is so popular is because it actually does cause change and is helpful. It is a charity act. It is nice to think that since we like to just buy things anyway that while we are buying our normal things. We can buy some decent looking shoes and give a person who needs them a pair as well. I think it important to have a feeling that you are making a difference if you aren’t really making that big of one, but it’s the thought that counts.
February 13th, 2013 at 1:12 pm
I think that it is not only a fad or trend, but a new way to spread awareness. Why not bring two things together? This is the new way and trend of leadership to combine a purpose with an every day aspect of people, especially the youth. A genius came up with setting a shoe trend and actually doing something good through fashion. This is just a win win for everybody. Some might say that people who buy TOMS aren’t really concerned about helping others, but at the end of the day it does make a change and that’s all that matters!
February 17th, 2013 at 10:13 pm
Think about it – ‘we don’t see the world as it is, we see it as we are!’
I have never owned a pair of Toms shoes, nor have I even heard of them before, let alone seen one! ‘those with high education tend to give back more!’
One thing I know about most products that make it to America however – usually created by low paid employees from offshore countries, 30 cents an hour. 30 cents an hour is nothing! Think about it ~ in my country, the average person would earn about $5 a day, for 10 hours of work! You think they care about getting a free pair of shoes that they made themselves?
It’s better to take $40, search the online address books of people in Africa, mail the money to them by mail!
Thank you for your shoe donation, but think about it, those shoes stand out far too much out in impoverished nations, and they aren’t made to be comfortable to wear when running through forests or walking through mud!