Globalization: Toms a Commodity Fetish Essay

Globalization is the international influence, change, and interaction within or between countries and or nations. This creates an idea of connectedness between the facilitating nation and the nation being influenced. Within this interaction and influence on another nation there becomes this desire to become a â€Å"trendsetter† through the use of products and other various commodities throughout the world. One such example can be seen through the United States which is associated with so many different types of brands such as Coca-Cola or Nike. These influences and trends though cannot be simply placed anywhere, rather they are developed and strategically thought of where they would be best placed and as well alternated to fit within a new environment for optimum consumption. These changes can either hinder a product or can help it through the way in which it is advertised and accepted into the local market. Such an example can be seen through TOMS shoe company where their goal is â€Å"to show how together, we can create a better tomorrow by taking compassionate action today† (Toms.com). TOMS’ business model of buy a pair give a pair is marketed to the U.S. in a way that plays with people’s emotions so that their product becomes a fetish through the idea that once a pair of shoes is bought people are doing good for another person; in particular children in other countries without shoes. This correlates with both Marx’s commodity fetish theory, the cultural imperialism theory and Mazzarella’s idea of the impact of imagery through the direct way TOMS is directed to the consumer and as well how there is an indirect influence from the TOMS shoe company onto the other various countries that they take their shoes to through the positive imagery that is created through the global impact that the company is trying to make. TOMS was started by founder Blake Mycoskie in 2006 after he had gone to Argentina in 2002 and saw the extreme poverty and health conditions and in particular children without shoes (toms.com). The original product came from an Argentine shoe called an alpargata which was worn by the local farmers in the region; it’s a canvas or fabric material with rubber soles. Mycoskie took the alpargata to the U.S. but changed and reinvented it for the American market so that there could be a product that made a positive impact, which ultimately translates to the â€Å"One for One† campaign, where with every one pair of shoes bought another pair would be given to a child in need (toms.com). The reason for the production and business of shoes is due to two reasons first many children in impoverished places live in areas that have unsafe terrains, such as a lack of unpaved roads. Second, there are also health concerns that are transmitted from the soil which is caused by not wearing sh oes. Lastly TOMS did some research and found that many schools require children to wear shoes to the classroom and without shoes or even the right color of shoes that child would not be able to go into the classroom (Daniel:2011:2). With this Mycoskie was able to start a business that now has manufacturing sites in China, Argentina, and Ethiopia (Daniel:2011:4). These production factories are divided up into two â€Å"departments† where the Argentinean and Ethiopian factories are where the donated shoes are produced only and the China factory is where the shoes that go to the United States are produced (toms.com). Because TOMS is a private company meaning that they are â€Å"a business company owned either by non-governmental organizations or by a relatively small number of shareholders or company members which does not offer or trade its company shares to the general public on the stock market exchanges, but rather the company’s stock is offered, owned and traded or exchanged privately† (businessnow.com). This then allows TOMS to be more private and less in the open about what is going on in their factories and other various production stages. However, TOMS is open about their manufacturing practices and according to the TOMS website they ensure that no children are working in the manufacturing process of their shoes. As well they want to help their supply employees through training them and educating them in the knowledge of what human trafficking is and as well slavery prevention. They â€Å"follow local labor standards†; which fluctuate from place to place which gives a very vague reality of what their â€Å"real† standards are. TOMS’ website does say that all factories are audited by third parties, each employer signs a code of conduct in which they are agreeing to follow the stipulations to TOMS company, there are regular visits made by TOMS production staff to make sure they are working and adhering to the code of conduct and other various working standards, and that all their standards are based off of the International Labor Organization Compliance Standards (toms.com). The intent of such standards, then, is to establish a worldwide minimum level of protection from inhumane labor practices through the adoption and implementation of said measures. â€Å"It is the aim of international labor standards to ensure the provision of such rights in the workplace, such as against workplace aggression, bullying, discrimination and gender inequality on the other hands for working diversity, workplace democracy and empowerment†(ilo.org). The basic stages of the production of the shoes goes from a team that draws up the ideas of the shoes, to a mock make-up of the shoe, then the design goes to the factories where they are made and then shipped to the U.S. where they are distributed to the various relaters and non-profit organizations that they partner with for â€Å"shoe drops.† Overall though, there is little information of the production stages and how the production facilities are like; which causes concern seeing as how they have built their ima ge on doing good for others and want to have a positive impact on the local economies. It becomes important to acknowledge that TOMS is a â€Å"for-profit company with giving at its core† (toms.com). TOMS partners up with other various non-profit organizations that run parallel goals and standards as TOMS does. This then means that each non-profit organization that TOMS partners with needs to meet certain criteria. There are six requirements that the organizations need to fulfill to be able to partner up with TOMS. First they need to have repeated giving which is where the potential organization must have the capability to be active within the same communities on a regular basis throughout the years. Second they need to have high impact which means that the organization’s mission and goals need to support health and education in a fashion that underlies the principle of giving a child an opportunity they normally would not have. Third enhancing impact through partnership, TOMS strives to make an influential impact in communities where they donate and the partnering organization needs to have their mission and goals coincide with TOMS’. Fourth, they need to be considerate of the local economy so that there is not a negative impact on the economy only a positive one. Fifth they need to be able to receive large shipments of TOMS’ shoes so that they may distribute the shoes to the places they focus on. Lastly, the potential partnering establishment needs to be comprehensively founded on health and education, so that the distribution of the new shoes not only supports TOMS’ mission but runs parallel with the establishments’ goals (toms.com). These non-profit organizations are not only an important aspect to the overall business of TOMS through the ability to give out the donated shoes but as well to spread the word about TOMS to the various communities that they reach. Non-profit organizations play a key role throughout the TOMS company process. Without these partnering organizations there would not be as frequent â€Å"shoe drops.† These â€Å"shoe drops† are where the donated shoes are given to the children in the targeted area. Each organization plays a key role through going to different places that they see fit and in need of shoes. Even after the shoes have been delivered, TOMS continues to maintain relationships with its giving partners and the communities (toms.com). TOMS constantly monitors its partners for accountability. Additionally the organization recognizes that one pair of shoes is not going to last for the child’s entire lifetime. â€Å"Therefore, as the children grow out of their shoes—approximately every six months—TOMS provides replacement shoes to these same children on a regular basis† (Daniel:2011:5). A schedule is set up with the identified community and local giving partner to maintain a regular Shoe Drop for the children. TOMS’ believes that repeat giving allows it to understand the local’s needs more thoroughly. TOMS also works to adapt its products to account for the region’s terrain, weather, and education requirements (toms.com). However, despite the use of these non-profit organization partnerships there is still a need to spread the word about what the TOMS company is all about and what they are trying to do. The TOMS company does not use conventional advertising in the sense that they use television or newspaper ads rather they use social media to spread what they are doing through the various outlets such as viral videos, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Tumbler, and Youtube. Its approach has allowed TOMS to reach a vast audience worldwide. TOMS maintains its own blog to educate the public about current events in the company. Additionally, many consumers create their own digital content regarding their experiences with TOMS Shoes. By encouraging events and word-of-mouth communication, TOMS is allowing consumers to do much of the marketing for the company. There is a very strong need for participation from the consumers to spread the word and the idea behind TOMS; so much so that they invite the consumer to be part of the â€Å"movement† (toms.com). The movement for TOMS is a wide range of various activities that the consumers can participate in; from on campus programs, one day without shoes, and most importantly buying their shoes so that another pair can go to a child in need, in other words â€Å"One for One.† The images that are presented in these pictures and information videos there becomes a very powerful image behind them. This coincides with Mazzarella’s argument that the image is a powerful image and how that powerful image then is a created for a local identity on a particular product for each specific place. With TOMS there is a sense of creating a local identity through who the audience is but there is more of an idea that anyone can join in what they are about and doing no matter the age or stage of live one is in. Because, the TOMS Company is asking participation from the consumer they in essence are also asking them to create a meaning behind their purchase and consumption of their shoe product; this in turn causes the shoes to become fetishized. The shoes take on a new meaning for the consumer other than just another pair of shoes. They become a symbol of hope, a chance for a child, a generous gift, and an opportunity for change for the consumer (cite). According to Marx’s theory of the commodity fetish when an object is treated as alive it becomes a fetish. As well Marx argues that capitalism produces its own fetishes through turning basic human needs such as food, warmth, shelter, and shoes into wants; they try to seduce the consumer. The consumer does not think then of the use value the product just becomes something that they want and more often than not the wants are very shallow (Marx). However, TOMS tries to put an anti-shallow want on their shoes through the use of playing with the consumers emotions. TOMS plays at the heart-strings of the consumer so that there becomes an emotional link between the consumer and the product; if the shoes are bought then a child is getting helped. As Marx points out there is an emotional quality in the product and this is often heightened through the way in which it is advertised. Even though TOMS does not use the conventional ways of advertising they do however, put a positive feeling into their information videos that add and heighten this emotional affect. TOMS shoe company falls into this idea of a commodity fetish because TOMS is asking the consumer to fill in the space between the product and the means of it; to fill in the gap according to Marx. TOMS makes its product seem so enticing for the consumer to do good that often times it is forgotten that the company is a for-profit company and it almost gets seen as a non-profit company because of the way in which the company brings forth what it is trying to do. This in turn changes the meaning of the shoe from just a shoe into what the consumers want it to mean. The meaning of the product is not just individually made but socially created and functioning but the use value remains the same; the meaning of the commodity is never locked down rather it is always change and fluxing with the social aspect and get filled with personal lives and not just the companies meaning (Marx). However, even though there is a positive spin on consuming TOMS shoes it’s important to look at how TOMS only releases certain information on what they are doing and their product; they present everything that they do in a way that they are always doing good and nothing bad. This in turn ties in with Cultural Imperialism. Cultural Imperialism is the indirect influence of one culture onto another. It can be argued that while TOMS is having an impact and therefore influence on the cultures that they donate the shoes and have factories in they are in essence having a more influence on the American economic culture through the way in which they have â€Å"revolutionized† the way in which to build a business model (Mendez:2011:7). They did this through the way in which the company was created under the premise that sales equal the good done. Mycoskie said, â€Å"†¦we know every day that we’re going to give away one pair of shoes for every one we sell, and that’s that. If we can’t make the business work that way, then the business just doesn’t work.† Many small businesses have now started to model their practices after this one-for-one model however they have not been as successful as TOMS especially if these companies are truly non-profit organizations (thewor ld.com). According to a Wall Street Journal â€Å"Toms is going a step further than most in blurring the difference between brand and charity; the brand doesn’t exist outside the charitable work.† Which helps explains why they have been so successful in selling their product because they are blurring those lines between the product brand and the charity aspect which often times is not the case when a major company wants to do charity work. Because of this blurring of the lines between corporate and charity this causes an influence in the United States corporate culture. Even though it may not be global in the sense that it’s an American company influencing the American corporation world it still is a type of cultural imperialism. However according to Mazzarella cultural imperialism is the tool that is used to create chaos in which only the ad companies only have the solution to. Again with the way in which TOMS places their imagery through social media sources there almost becomes an indirect way that they are trying to portray the good they are doing in the forefront while whatever other impacts they may be occurring to the wayside so that it appears there is no influe nce created by TOMS and its industry both throughout the world and the United States local economy. Overall, TOMS shoe company is one that wants to bring good to those in need. However, there are several questions that arise such as if they are doing what they say they are why are their production facilities and practices so hidden? Or why don’t they allow people to see just how much the difference in facilities in the United States and their factories in Argentina, Ethiopia and China? Lastly are they truly only having positive impacts to the local economies in which they donate their shoes or are they also having a negative one as well? The company is very open on the good they are doing and create a very powerful image that directly relates to the fetishism of their shoes with the consumer and their desire themselves to have a positive impact through their consumption of a product rather than guilt. As Mazzarella states the â€Å"global is constructed locally just as much as the local is constructed globally† (2003:17). This can be seen through how with the local imagery that is created in the United States that is seen as a positive image of TOMS is directed to the rest of the world even though while it may appear very true there are still many things about the overall corporation the TOMS company keeps hidden from the consumers eyes. This then is also how their cultural imperialistic impact is played through how the positive image is translated from the local to the global. Overall, TOMS offers a solution to short-term symptoms of poverty but does not address the root cause of poverty (Costello:2012:12). In conclusion it might be better to buy a pair of shoes for half the price and then write a check for a foundation that support the local economies infrastructure that TOMS is impacting so there can be more of a long-term impact rather than a short-term. However, there is a desire to create a positive impact and while there can never be a perfect model to create a business that is always creating a positive impact the TOMS company just might be on to something. Works Cited Bartter, Jacqueline. â€Å"A New Model of Corporate Social Responsibility.† Iprs.uscs.edu. University of California, San Diego, 2012. Web. 13 Oct. 2012. http://irps.ucsd.edu/assets/001/503681.pdf Costello, Amy. â€Å"Buy One and Give One, Inside TOMS Shoes†. Tiny Spark. Chronicle of Philanthropy. March, 15, 2012. F., Daniel. â€Å"Toms: One For the Movement.† University of New Mexico, 2011. Web. 13 Oct. 2012. http://danielsethics.mgt.unm.edu/pdf/TOMS%20Case.pdf Marx, Karl, and David McLellan. Selected Writings. Oxford [Eng.: Oxford UP, 1977. Print. Mazzarella, William. Shoveling Smoke: Advertising and Globalization in Contemporary India. Durham: Duke UP, 2003. Print. â€Å"TOMS SHOES LOGO.† TOMS Shoes & Eyewear Official Store. N.p., n.d. 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