Nike partnership will ruin Apple's image?

CNET says Apple's partnership with Nike puts Apple in a "dangerous ethical position" , and Nike's sweatshops scar Apple's clean image. The article questions Apple's use of Gandhi and the Dalai Lama in its ad campaigns given the Nike partnership. The article goes on to say that Nike is "an icon of injustice" ranking below McDonalds in a survey of consumer's perceptions about unethical corporations. Is this bad news for Apple, or can it ride out these concerns?

I know it's diminished Apple's ethical standing in MY eyes, but I doubt the mass market will really care.

To be honest regardless of the authenticity of these suggestions, I very much doubt the average consumer will make the connection.....Or care.

"Apple's clean image....."

....um....yeah... riiiiiight

*blink*

im still split, i think that the consumer market will like it, but the "apple heads" will dissagree with apples desision.

I don't really care where Nike's shoes are made. I think the 8 year old vietnamese kid who put the air maxes I am currently wearing together did a terrific job. I would also say that the people working in the chinese factories which produce Apple computers are probably treated the very same. So is their a difference between the two? No. Will the average American look badly on the partnership? Not a chance. Don't go after a company for using cheap labor, go after a communist government for causing their people to work there in the first place.

Who cares if Nike uses sweatshops. Do I think they should treat people ethically and pay them comprable wages for where they live? Yes. But we have to remember that sweatshops are the first stepping stones for industry in many nations and economic growth in many nations began with sweatshops. So are sweatshops bad for the people working in them? Yes. But are they really that horrible for a national economy? Not in any way.

- Smeshy

The problem is not that Nike uses cheap labor. It's that they don't pay the workers enough to eat even where they live, they give their workers the worst working conditions imaginable, force them to live in camps of working communities that have crap flowing through their dirt paths and dungeons without floors for homes, hire hitmen to silence those workers that try to speak out against them, and try to pass off what they're doing as help to these people. Then add to this the fact the disproportionately little amount of the cost of a Nike shoe that actually goes to these workers. They could improve all this immensely tomorrow if they wanted by just cutting down the marketing costs. God forbid Tiger Woods should get $50 million for wearing Nike-branded stuff instead of $100 million. Furthermore, the fact that Nike is the industry leader and is able to do this crap to undercut the competition consistently forces their competitors to adopt the same kinds of business practices if they want to keep up.

I have no respect for the Nike corporation at all, and I hope they either change their ways or get the end they deserve soon to be quite frank. Outsourcing for cheap labor is one thing; unnecessarily trapping desperate workers into a living **** is another, and because of this Nike ranks even above DeBeers as far as "companies with evil business practices" goes in my opinion. Ignore it if you like, but don't try and pretend that it's simply outsourcing for cheap wages that makes people who learn about Nike's business practices hold them in the utmost contempt.

You make a good point but I think you are missing the mark. If what you say is true and not just rhetoric, then you need to look once again at the type of government that allows this to go on. Nike is able to go in and do this because they are allowed to. Also, if Nike didnt pay these people pennies to work in their factories, then what other jobs could these people hold? Their horrible job at Nike glueing the soles on my tennis shoes may be the only reason these people eat. Don't start a war against Nike, start a war against Communism if you want to solve the problem.

techster82 said:

You make a good point but I think you are missing the mark. If what you say is true and not just rhetoric, then you need to look once again at the type of government that allows this to go on. Nike is able to go in and do this because they are allowed to. Also, if Nike didnt pay these people pennies to work in their factories, then what other jobs could these people hold? Their horrible job at Nike glueing the soles on my tennis shoes may be the only reason these people eat. Don't start a war against Nike, start a war against Communism if you want to solve the problem.

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There are plenty of jobs from other American companies that outsource, and they don't all trap you and your family into a perpetual **** that you cannot escape easily without getting killed. Trying to pin the blame for Nike's business decisions on the People's Republic of China is about as valid as pinning the blame for identity theft on the fact that there aren't enough systems in place to effectively stop them. Just because you CAN do something does not mean you SHOULD. If I had the ability to kill someone I didn't like without fear of getting caught, I would not do so. Nike MAKES themselves into desperate people's only option, and then by the time they realize that maybe it was the wrong idea, it's too late. You may have your issues with PRC allowing this kind of thing, but quite frankly that doesn't excuse Nike's actions by even a little. All of these are business decisions by people at Nike, and they are their responsibilities; it is their fault that these people are forced into a malnourished state they cannot escape. And by the way, this is NOT rhetoric. I've had the benefit of meeting a man who actually went to one of these sites and lived with these people. The fact you would accuse me of possibly basing something like this on rhetoric is insulting to be honest.

Well then be insulted. I just don't put all my stock in something that a person heard from somebody else. I never said it wasn't true, but I haven't had the cold hard facts laid out in front of me so in my mind it is partially rhetoric, and you may be making some excessive claims. Human Rights abuses have been going on for years in the PRC, Vietnam, etc. We keep threatening to revoke MFN (most favored nation) status from China if they don't do something about it, but we never will. I would almost bet that the factories these "atrocities" may be happening in are not even owned by Nike. They may be contracted by them, but does Nike actually own and operate them with their own people? I also find it hard to believe that the Chinese government would allow a westerner to "live" with these people. Like I said, you may be totally right, and if so, dont buy Nike products if it makes you feel better. Oh, and with a population of 5 billion people or so, I am gonna have to call you out on their being "plenty of jobs from other american companies available". From what I have seen and read, these people fight to get a job in one of the western run factories.

Not reallign going to hurt them, but i can't see it as a great thing

techster82 said:

Don't start a war against Nike, start a war against Communism if you want to solve the problem.

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George W's next step....

smeshy123 said:

Who cares if Nike uses sweatshops. Do I think they should treat people ethically and pay them comprable wages for where they live? Yes. But we have to remember that sweatshops are the first stepping stones for industry in many nations and economic growth in many nations began with sweatshops. So are sweatshops bad for the people working in them? Yes. But are they really that horrible for a national economy? Not in any way.

- Smeshy

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moeny before a person's rights? Are you kidding me?

aantoine90 said:

George W's next step....

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Communism is already on its way out. Move along.

There is evidence of the Chinese government starting to adopt democractic principles.

techster82 said:

Well then be insulted. I just don't put all my stock in something that a person heard from somebody else. I never said it wasn't true, but I haven't had the cold hard facts laid out in front of me so in my mind it is partially rhetoric, and you may be making some excessive claims. Human Rights abuses have been going on for years in the PRC, Vietnam, etc. We keep threatening to revoke MFN (most favored nation) status from China if they don't do something about it, but we never will. I would almost bet that the factories these "atrocities" may be happening in are not even owned by Nike. They may be contracted by them, but does Nike actually own and operate them with their own people? I also find it hard to believe that the Chinese government would allow a westerner to "live" with these people. Like I said, you may be totally right, and if so, dont buy Nike products if it makes you feel better. Oh, and with a population of 5 billion people or so, I am gonna have to call you out on their being "plenty of jobs from other american companies available". From what I have seen and read, these people fight to get a job in one of the western run factories.

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Nike is exploiting that desperation far more than they should be, as I already said. The statement that they have other options is based on the fact that China has the fastest-growing GDP of any country, and it is set to surpass the United States' in a matter of a few decades. There are a good number of Chinese citizens taking advantage of globalization, but this situation is completely one-way as far as which party is being taken advantage of. And if you don't want to believe me, go ahead and turn a blind eye; whatever helps you sleep better. A quick Google search will likely end however long that goes on for though. And these atrocities (no quotation marks, since I actually consider what I've listed to be atrocities) are committed in contract factories Nike is supposed to oversee. It's their job to make sure it's running as they see fit, and apparently causing suffering on a massive scale and murdering those who try to escape falls within that scope. Just because PRC's government is allowing for this does not mean Nike is scot-free of blame for their own business decisions as you seem to think. Once again, your argument for this all being China's fault makes it look like you don't ever hold the perpetrator of a bad deed responsible, and that's just ridiculous.

moeny before a person's rights? Are you kidding me?

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If you're a pure economist, that's usually the kind of stand you take, given the ideal of free market trade that's supposed to always work out to most people's benefit in the end.

People want eveyone to be treated fairly and get better wages, but they are not willing to pay more for it.

people want cheap stuff so that is why we have that labor in the first place.

Graphite said:

People want eveyone to be treated fairly and get better wages, but they are not willing to pay more for it.

people want cheap stuff so that is why we have that labor in the first place.

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excellent point Graphite. nowhere is that more evident that in the US right now with the politicalization of the illegal immigrant issue.

I have always enjoyed Nike, I think its a great brand and leader for shoes. Past all of that sweatshop things. I think this will, just like the intel mac, help Apple out in the long run and the partnership should be good.

Discerptor said:

Nike is exploiting that desperation far more than they should be, as I already said. The statement that they have other options is based on the fact that China has the fastest-growing GDP of any country, and it is set to surpass the United States' in a matter of a few decades. There are a good number of Chinese citizens taking advantage of globalization, but this situation is completely one-way as far as which party is being taken advantage of. And if you don't want to believe me, go ahead and turn a blind eye; whatever helps you sleep better. A quick Google search will likely end however long that goes on for though. And these atrocities (no quotation marks, since I actually consider what I've listed to be atrocities) are committed in contract factories Nike is supposed to oversee. It's their job to make sure it's running as they see fit, and apparently causing suffering on a massive scale and murdering those who try to escape falls within that scope. Just because PRC's government is allowing for this does not mean Nike is scot-free of blame for their own business decisions as you seem to think. Once again, your argument for this all being China's fault makes it look like you don't ever hold the perpetrator of a bad deed responsible, and that's just ridiculous.

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I would certainly fault the government for the level of despair in those countries... Do you think Nike could go in and pay these people more? And if they did do you not think that the government wouldn't confiscate that money right away? Are you somehow saying that if Nike didn't hire these people that somehow they would have better lives? I'm sorry but I don't buy that for a minute.

Nike is empowering our free market and at the same time providing jobs, albeit poor ones, to a people who's government can't sustain them at all. Horrid conditions sure... but at least they have some way to feed their families starving from years of communist rule.

I don't like what goes on in those shops.... But place the blame where it belongs... The free market will not always benefit all people equally all the time ... it will just look for the path of least resistance... Communistic governments sanction the path.

Oh and as far as illegal immigration.... these companies pushing for it are gonna have a real shock when their lobbying pays off and makes all these illegals citizens and all the sudden they'll demand just as much money as anybody else.