Closing the Gap on Sweatshops

Gap, Inc. owns three of the most popular clothing stores around; The Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic. Because of this, Gap, Inc. finds itself within the public eye quite often and must have a handle on how the public views them. The public relations that Gap, Inc. deals with help determine the company’s identity in the marketplace.

Gap, Inc. “was founded in 1969 on the principle of conducting business in a responsible, honest, and ethical manner” (Guth & Marsh, 2009, p. 25). “Today, Gap, Inc. remains committed to meeting the highest standards of business conduct. Nothing less will do” (Guth & Marsh, 2009, p. 25). In order to maintain the principles of the company, Gap, Inc. must continue to show the public that they are meeting the standards they have set for themselves and working to correct any issues that get in the way of those standards. In order to do this, Gap, Inc. released a Social Responsibility Report in May 2004. As stated by Katie Delahaye Paine, “the resulting PR makes Gap appear ethical, concerned and morally superior to its competitors” (Guth & Marsh, 2009, p. 26). By issuing a Social Responsibility Report, Gap was able to admit wrong doings found within their factories, but do so within a controlled environment that allowed them to admit things in a manner that was acceptable to the company and control the publicity that such news would cause.

The news that Gap, Inc. was trying to control was the acknowledgment of the use of sweatshops and the efforts they were taking to rectify the usage. I personally would rather pay a little more money for products to keep the production within the United States. I believe that by stimulating the local economy we will be able to have more people employed locally which in turn give us an economic boost and a personal boost. This personal boost provides jobs to those in need in our areas possibly cutting down on theft and other crimes as well. Additionally, we are able to better control the conditions within the facility and monitor that people are not being treated poorly. I find that a company’s foreign workforce conditions are important to my buying habits if I am made aware of them, however I do not go out and