Victoria’s Ethic Secrets

THE BUCHAREST ACADEMY OFECONOMIC STUDIES

FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

MASTER IN INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION

Bucuresti

3 0 - 1 4

Moroianu Sorin

Victoria’s Secret

Victoria’s Secret was founded in the 70s in San Francisco by the businessman Roy

Raymond. The first store was opened in 1977 in the Stanford Shopping Center. The stores were

as to make every gentleman confortable with buying lingerie for women.

The origin of the company name was indeed a mystery. It turns out that there is no

“secret”. The name “Victoria” makes reference (probably) to the Queen of Great Britain. By

adding “secret”, an intelligent marketing strategy was developed making allusions that the Queen

enjoyed wearing sexy lingerie similar to the “Wonder Bra” fabric.

After 5 working years, in 1982, Roy Raymond sold Victoria’s Secret to Limited Brands

for 4 million $. During the 80’s Limited Brands kept Victoria’s Secret image intact but also

branched out by selling women shoes, perfumes and clothes.

Victoria’s other secret

In December 2011, a press release revealed Victoria’s little secret. Bloomberg Markets

magazine revealed a report relating to the West Africa orphan children daily labor. Victoria’s

Secret was manufacturing cotton in Sri Lanka using materials done in the fabrics from India. A

part of the cotton used for textiles comes from Burkina Faso, a continental country that should’ve

produced organic cotton for fair trade.

Victoria’s Secret initially entered the production business in 2007 with the purpose of

“improving the life of women and poor children” but it turned out to be child exploitation.

Clarisse was a 13 year old girl who was pulled out of school in order to work the cotton

fields. She did everything, from picking and carrying, to fighting cotton insects that were

controlled with inorganic pesticides, all this activities being done bare feet under 40 degrees C,

during planting season.

Clarisse was working for Victorien Kaboule, a man that imposed fear on the working

ground, a man that forced Clarisse to do the work of a plow(because he couldn’t afford an actual

plow). Clarisse ended up digging 500 rows just with her hands and a hoe. If she slowed down her

working rate, she would have been whipped repeatedly or beaten. Clarisse’s living conditions are

narrowed down to a plastic on which she sleeps, a wooden bench next to the cottage wall and an

iron door. She does not have photos or puppets or even a tooth brush. Her parents live in the next

room and they sleep under a mosquito net.

Forced labor and using children in agriculture is nothing new for the Africa farms. The

cotton picked by Clarisse is supposedly organic and certified as being fair trade

Victoria’s Secret partner, The National Federation of Cotton Producers from Burkina

Faso, is responsible for all aspects related to the bio cotton program and fair trade on all the

Burkina Faso surface. In 2008 UNPCB sponsored a study that targeted hundreds even thousands

of kids just like Clarisse that were exploited in eco farms. The study was requested by the

producers and Helvetas. Victoria’s Secret claims to have never seen the report.

The company’s desire for realizing fair trade with ecologic cotton was inspired by a

labeling movement started in the 80’s with little Mexican farmers, coffee producers and prides

her with involving giants like Wal-Mart Inc. and Starbucks Corp in goods consumption. This

movement raised the profits for farmers from poorer parts of the world.

Myers, from Limited Brands claims that Victoria’s Secret was based on certification in

order to achieve her objective: “improving life of some of the poorest women and children in the

world, through responsible supply with cotton, which was done through our efforts for the

Burkinabe women

The life of Clarisse and the experience she went through on Victorien Kaboule’s

plantation represents a painting of a childhood lost due to an American company that claims to

be ethical.

CNN reported that Victoria’s Secret claims to have started working with interior and

exterior interested parties in order to get to the bottom of this issue. Furthermore, the people at

Victoria’s Secret are prepared to act immediately to prevent further children exploitation from

Burkina Faso’s cotton fields.

Bibliography

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-15/victoria-s-secret-revealed-in-child-picking-burkina-faso-cotton.html

http://www.limitedbrands.com/our_brands/victorias_secret/about.aspx;

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/15/world/africa/victorias-secret-child-labor/