(Ch. 3) TOMS' Ethics and Social Responsibility

As we all know by now that TOMS have been a very caring and a giving company since day one. If you have never bought a pair TOMS shoes, I think that it's that time where you buy a pair because of the foot diseses children are suffering from all over the world in countries like Philippines, Kenya, Argentina and other poor countries where children have no shoes to walk with. For every pair of shoes that TOMS sells, it also donates a pair to a child in need, in a program that has no boundaries and goes all around the world. The entire company is based on the idea of giving back to people who need it most. Instead of keeping all of the profits that it gets from selling its shoes, the company uses some of that hard earned money to create shoes for others and send them all over the world to needy people. A lot of people like the ethical aspect of the company, so they buy the shoes even if they can find something less expensive through another company. They know that they will be getting quality shoes, at a fair price, and doing something for other people who don’t have the opportunity to get things like shoes for themselves due to various hardships. Even in developed countries, there are plenty of people who can’t afford the basic things that they need, and would be grateful to get some help so that their needs for food, clothing, and shelter could be met. TOMS saw a need, and simply started filling it without asking for anything in return.

"One Day Without Shoes" Campaign 

TOMS raises awareness by encouraging everyone to go without shoes one day out of the year, last year April 5, 2011, was the fourth annual event. In 2010, over 250,000 people went without shoes and over 1,600 events took place around the world. Events around the world from Venice to Little Rock, Dubai to London took place to spread the awareness about the importance of shoes in parts of the world where children’s feet are exposed to diseases. For this campaign TOMS has created a separate website, "Onedaywithoutshoes.com", the website includes a countdown till the next event which is on April 10, 2012. The website also includes information on foot diseases and infections like Podoconiosis, Hookworm, Dangerous Bebris, Jeggers which children are infected by.