On January 5, 2010, Jim Dwyer from The New York Times broke an embarrassing story for clothing retailer H&M and superstore Wal-Mart. Dwyer was tipped by a New York City graduate student, Cynthia Magnus, that the two stores on 35th Street in NYC were destroying and discarding articles of clothing that for some reason could not be sold. Dozens of trash bags filled with ripped shirts and jackets were found, even though donating these items during an amazingly cold winter season seemed like an obviously better choice.
The public’s reaction to the story forced both stores to investigate and make necessary changes to its stores’ policies. H&M’s Facebook page, for instance, contained several comments from consumers who promised to boycott the store until it disposed of its unsold clothing in a more socially responsible way. Following Wal-Mart’s lead, H&M eventually promised to stop the practice and donate the items to charity.
The recent scandal for H&M and Wal-Mart came at a unique time – temperatures were at a record low. To see a few examples of the news stories that led the nightly news, watch the following videos:
Discussion Questions:
1. What harms could the scandal above have caused for Wal-Mart and H&M?
2. Was the response by both of the companies effective enough to repair their tarnished images? Why, or why not?
3. What could both companies do in the near future to continue to repair their image after this embarrassing news story?
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