Oh Gap. Gap, Gap, Gap. You just never learn do you? You certainly have never been known for American or fair trade manufacturing, but this was kinda a dumb move. Gap. The clothier just ran a campaign selling a patriotic line of totes, and for every one of these bags sold, Gap would donates $5 to improve school food and nutrition in the States. It’s a great idea that I’m sure many locavores (if any locavores would ever been seen in a Gap) got on board for, but if anyone looked closer, they would have noticed that each sack had a tag saying “Made in China.” And people took note. And people were NOT pleased about this. Especially after Gap touted the bags all over the place as being “Made in the USA.”
Image via Huffington Post
Hmmm. Something certainly seems wrong about this. As great as Gap’s intentions are to feed school children, something still seems wrong with this. Gap wrote this email to website styleite.com in response to questioning about this campaign:
“There are several bags in the FEED USA collection. The FEED USA Canvas Tote bag and the limited edition one-of-a-kind Bandana Bag are both made in the USA.
However, the FEED USA Denim Bucket bags are made in China, and should not have been connected to the made in the USA signs.
We apologize for any inaccurate messaging.
We are proud of our FEED USA partnership. Gap donates $5 toward FEED USA’s school lunch program for each bag sold.”
Hmmm. So consumers’ misunderstanding? Tricky, Gap. And after that email, the Chinese bags were suddenly sold out on the Gap website. This all is suspicious to me.
Unfortunately, many retailers like to make a big fuss about their American-made products – which I agree, they should. However, many try to leave consumers confused about their other products. And that’s what’s happened here. So once again, buy local whenever possible. You are more likely to be able to question the company about their manufacturing practices – and get a clear, concise answer.
-Jess
