Nike Condoms

[Advance]

Why is it that US Presidents do more good out of office than in office! Well done to Carter and Clinton.

The Nike Condoms idea of Clinton's is a great idea (please let me know if it was somebody else idea). The youth of the world would take them up with gusto and hopefully cut the transmission of STD's, AIDS and unwanted pregnancies.

However there is only one problem in this.

Nike.

Do you ever think they would jump at this idea?

And if they did....would they manufacture them for 10 cents in Vietnam and sell them for $19.99? Let's hope some common sense prevails and they give them away free to atone for past sins and to play their part in creating a better world.

[Joseph27]

And risk the moral sanctity of the young?  How could such a suggestion even come up - you wouldn't get George Bush advocating such a disgraceful message - (of course he would shake his head and lament in the sadness of those young people with unwanted children, people with Aids and so on).

Honestly it's not a bad idea - but there is no way Nike would do anything with making a few thousand percent profit.  Phil Nike is a disgrace and stands for the worst elements of globalisation.  Pay a Vietnamese work $1 a day to make a product that cost $4 - and sells for $150 - of which $100 million will go to a man who can kick a ball or hit a ball with a stick.  Nike condom wouldnt sell under $10 - but it would be fun thinking up the slogans for the adds

[Fresh Mint]

I think the current slogan pretty much fits the bill ....

[KatyF]

Well, of course it's immoral to pay so little.  But may I point out they are by no means the only ones?  Ralph Lauren comes immediately to mind and I'm quite sure there are many other companies wh do the same thing.

But without his $1 a day, how is the Vietnamese man supposed to eat?

[Joseph27]

Yes KatyF I understand and without their free food how is the 18th century African American Slave supposed to live? We can use all sorts of arguments to justify wrongs but at the end of the day some things are just plain wrong.

The argument is valid and I admit this - but try working in a Nike factory in Indonesia for a day and see what you think.  Just visit the place and you feel bad.   Nonetheless this is the world we live in and for say $2 a day - it means the worker is getting more than Rp300,000 which in a local community is what a school teacher earns.  I just cant help but to feel uncomfortable about the whole thing

[This message has been edited by Joseph27 (edited 14-07-2002).]

[expat1]

So what should Nike do, pay the developing country worker a wage you are comfortable with - making that worker the equivalent of a multi-millionaire in their society; shut down because you think the wage is unfair - causing the people to have no jobs so they must go back to selling their children into prostitution and slavery; or what?  

The people in these factory towns are given an opportunity.  No one is forcing them to work, they could continue their former life should they choose.  Over time, there lot will improve and some of these people will be running their own factories in other communities and countries.

[Joseph27]

But will there ever come a time when this race is to the bottom across the globe becomes too much?  

Imagine another 10 years - Nike sees potential in North Korea - so it pulls out of Indonesia and Vietnam because the workers have gotten to be too expensive - ie. maybe $3 a day - where as they could pay a hungry North Korean $.50 cents a day and get just as much work.  Is this still acceptible?  

And when Expats' company says I can do your job with someone at a tenth of your wage - and you get thrown of the conveyor belt - is that acceptible.  

The answer is of course that it is understandable but it nonetheless sucks when you're caught on the losing side.

[Advance]

Can I pose a question?

What would happen if Nike sold those goods for a reasonable market price, say $25 instead of the $125 they sell at the moment. Does that make them a better company? Would anyone complain?

I think the reason why so many informed thinking adults dislike the company is because of that "gaP' in prices. And that gap in prices will stay there because the shoe itself is more than just a product, it's a status symbol to our youth. A status symbol that has a value to it, that goes up and down according to market conditions. And that is how this firm prices its product.

.

[skank]

Nike a Rip-off,

A friend in OEM manufacturing brought my wife a Louis Vitton bag that LV pays US$11.34 cents to get manufactured in job shops in China (lots of small hande beaded work) & sells for on Orchard Road around US$500!

Of course I guess if you can find people to pay $500 for an $11 bag then why not. There truely is a sucker born every minute.

[aucharms]

i hope they don't use their young workers for testing.