By Ariel Azoff of The SNSPost & Heartsleevesblog.com
I got a pair of TOMS shoes in the mail last week. They’re extremely comfortable, and I got them in this snazzy gold herringbone pattern: 
I know there are issues with give-away philanthropy, so I did a little digging to see how sustainable TOMS Shoes really are. Putting aside TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie‘s accidental speech to an anti-gay Christian group in June, there are several fundamental problems with the way TOMS gives back.
Giveaways Don’t Solve the Problem
As Kelsey Timmerman, author of Where Am I Wearing, reminds us, this is a classic case of giving someone a fish vs. teaching him/her how to fish. Giving children shoes is all very well and good, but does nothing to address the root causes of the poverty that makes them shoeless in the first place. In fact, it may do more harm than good.
Out-competes Local Business
In countries where massive amounts of free shoes are given away, local shoemakers and shoe vendors are losing business. Granted, TOMS says that it gives shoes to children who don’t have them, and many of those children may not be able to afford shoes. But flooding a town with free shoes is a band-aid fix that is potentially harmful to local business and does nothing to empower the people living in poverty in that town.
Dignity
In April, while TOMS was running its “A Day Without Shoes” fundraiser/awareness campaign, Good Intentions Are Not Enough ran a counter-campaign called “A Day Without Dignity.”
The campaign asked aid workers and people living in countries where shoe drops happen to write about the following topics:
- People’s memories of childhood and what their actual needs were
- The dignity and control that comes from work and not from receiving handouts
- The glut of unnecessary donated goods
- Whites in Shining Armor swooping in to “save” people
- What it really takes to raise awareness, more than just walking barefoot
- The problems created by handing out shoes or other goods
- The issue of dignity and how we portray people in our advertising campaigns
- How doing something because it feels good and is popular doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do
The Positives
I don’t think TOMS is bad, maybe just misguided. The fact that it has become such a recognizable name
is incredible. The success of the company says good things about first-world consumers and the rise of conscious consumerism. As blogger Daniela Papi points out, TOMS Shoes – though not actually an NGO – has gotten a lot of Americans excited about giving. It is furthering the discussion about socially-conscious business and getting people to think about their purchases differently. In that respect, I say TOMS has been a smashing success. It’s gotten so popular, that Skechers is now ripping off TOMS’ model with the not-at-all-original Bob’s shoes
SoleRebels: TOMS Alternative
TOMS has been criticized for focusing more on giveaways than jobs. My TOMS are Made in China, and though the company holds its factories to a code of conduct and conducts regular audits, the “local labor standards” in China are not what you’d call a shining beacon of righteousness. There is a shoe company called SoleRebels that sells shoes made by workers in Ethiopia who are paid 300% the wages of other garment workers. Headquartered in Addis Ababa and Ontario, the company uses sustainable business practices and natural, recycled, and locally-sourced materials, and is the only WFTO Fair-Trade certified footwear company.
So all-in-all, next time I ask for a gift of shoes for myself, I’ll check out SoleRebels over TOMS, but I am glad that some little kid somewhere has a pair of shoes now. I hope that kid is walking to school in them, getting an education and breaking out of the cycle of poverty that keeps her family in an economic state where they can’t afford shoes in the first place.
Born and raised in Woodstock, Ariel Azoff is an adventurer and aspiring writer who spent the past year working for a human rights organization in the Middle East. She is a contributing writer to The SNSPost & Midthoughtblog.com, and now that she is back in the U.S. is delving into the world of sustainable fashion and blogging as she goes at Heartsleevesblog.com.
Comments
Something that is often left out when these subjects are discussed is the difference between need and need NOW. While it is true that giveaways do not help end the cycle of poverty, giving children shoes is an emergency relief that improves public health and quality of life in the short term. In the case of Toms, in which distributing shoes to poor children is not an entire poverty alleviation strategy but a short term relief, and given that it is a private company doing so as a double bottom line, I don’t think the entire concept is worth criticism. On the other hand, it should be coupled with distributing shoes that are the most appropriate for that people in that area and are durable, as well as in support of more sustainable development work.
Hey Ben, thanks for your comment, this is in my opinion a very worthwhile debate. You make a great point about emergency relief aid, which is why I wear my TOMS shoes proudly, and completely agree that the entire concept is not bad. The issue, though, is that TOMS continues to infiltrate the same communities with shoes year after year, which doesn’t solve the problem of poverty and at the same time floods the local market with free shoes. It’s hard to find where the line is, but it’s great that more and more companies are trying!
The company could purchase shoes for the kids from local shoe vendors in the donation country. That would give them shoes NOW and support the local economy. TOMS has had this idea presented to them hundreds of times. But they are hoping these poverty-stricken children will grow up and buy TOMS one day because that is the brand they know.
But how can they if they are stuck in the poverty cycle in their community? Come on TOMS, please donate shoes purchased from their local shoe businesses.
I just wanted to add my 10 cents to this long discussion. I personally own 2 pairs of TOMS and have gotten behind everything they’re doing. I think there’s too much criticism in this country and not enough action. The fact that they’re giving free shoes to those in need is VERY commendable….whatever the reason behind it. Its better than nothing, which is what 98% of businesses do.
Go TOMS!