Ian Cook – Page 13 – followthethings.com

“No Pride In Primark“
Popular activist campaign against Primark’s ‘Pride’ clothing & accessories made in anti-LGBTQ+ countries.
To see what sparked this, watch Primark’s promotional video above.

UK LGBTQ+ rights charity Stonewall collaborates with high street fashion retailer Primark on its 2018 ‘Pride’ range of clothing and accessories. They will be sold throughout Europe and North America and 20% of their profits will go to Stonewall. But none of the proceeds will go to the organisers of Pride celebrations, some of whom are struggling for money. And many of the countries in which this ‘Pride’ merch is being made – like Turkey, Myanmar & China – ban LGBTQ+ events and NGOs and imprison people for homosexuality. So what should Primark & Stonewall do? Where should people shopping for Pride merch go? And what’s it like to be an LGBTQ+ worker in Turkey, Myanmar or China making t-shirts and other merch that ‘celebrates what you are not allowed to be’? These are the questions asked by social media critics and the journalists who pick up their criticisms. It’s not a huge orchestrated campaign. No NGO or other organisation orchestrates it. Nevertheless, it becomes a notorious case of a high street brand ‘pink-washing’ (a form of ‘woke-washing’) their supply chain operations. In the wake of these criticisms, Primark continues to support LGBTQ+ organisations in many countries, but has it addressed the crackdowns on LGBTQ people in those countries where its rainbow merch is made? Should it withdraw its orders from these countries? Or keep working there, supporting – via Stonewall and other organisations – the LGBTQ+ organisations and workers who need it? Does it do so? And how can it convince the media, activists and consumers that it’s doing so? LGBTQ+ people represent a big market for clothing sales.

Page reference: Ian Cook et al (2024) No Pride In Primark (taster). followthethings.com/no-pride-in-primark.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)

Estimated reading time: 15 minutes.

Posted on August 28, 2024January 10, 2025 by Ian Cook

62p An Hour

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Fashion

SHOW WHAT’S IMPOSSIBLE

START WITH A PARADOX

HOLD ‘EM ACCOUNTABLE

BLAME, SHAME & GUILT

“62p An Hour“
A front page newspaper exposé by Ben Ellery published in the Mail on Sunday.
A video summary of the article by AJ+ is embedded above. Read the original article here.

The British high street fashion retailer Whistles collaborates with fashion magazine Elle and gender equality charity The Fawcett Society to sell a slogan t-shirt saying ‘This is what a feminist looks like.’ Their publicity campaign includes high profile British politicians (e.g. Harriet Harman & Ed Milliband) and celebrities (e.g. Emma Watson & Benedict Cumberbach) wearing them. The Mail on Sunday newspaper sends a reporter to the factory in Mauritius where the women who make them are paid 62p an hour. They are also women are photographed wearing them, and talk both about their work and what feminism means to them. The newspaper makes this front page news. The credibility of the Fawcett Society’s campaign and the celebrities supporting it are questioned. How can you declare your support for feminism by wearing a t-shirt that relies of the exploitation of women? Fair point perhaps. But what are the motives of the newspaper? Is their critique pro- or anti-feminist? Do they care that much for the workers? And is the situation as bad as they make out? Either way, Whistles immediately removes the shirts from sale. It’s a huge embarrassment.

Page reference: Jennifer Hart (2024) 62p An Hour (taster). followthethings.com/62p-an-hour.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes.

Posted on August 28, 2024January 27, 2025 by Ian Cook

The Accord On Fire & Building Safety In Bangladesh

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Fashion

IMPROVE PAY & CONDITIONS

HAVE A THEORY OF CHANGE

FIND THE UNIONS

JOIN WITH OTHERS

HOLD ‘EM ACCOUNTABLE

“The Accord On Fire & Building Safety In Bangladesh“
An independent legally binding global framework agreement between fashion brands, retailers & trade unions.
Click the screengrabs to read the agreement on IndustriALL Global Union’s website.

What if brands, retailers and labour unions could agree on a ways to ensure the safety of millions of people working in garment factories to prevent the factory fires and collapses that have killed and injured so many? They did, in the wake of the Rana Plaza factory complex collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh in April 2013 where more than 1,100 garment workers making clothes for Western high street brands were crushed to death. Under this agreement, health and safety committees would be democratically elected in all factories and would identify and take action relating to concerns they identified. Factories would have independent safety inspections. The results and corrective actions outlined in these reports would be made public. The brands signing the agreement would continue to have their clothes made in the unsafe factories and would fund the corrective actions to make them safer. And factory workers would be trained in health and safety, could make complaints without fear of reprisal and could refuse to work in unsafe conditions. Wow! Could this work? Would brands sign up? Would workers see the benefits? What would happen 5 years later, when the agreement ran out? Could workers in other countries benefit from the same kind of agreement?

Page reference: Chris Crane, Alex Danvers, Robbie Foley, Will Kelleher, Mike Stanton & Adam Williams (2013) The Accord On Fire & Building Safety In Bangladesh (taster). followthethings.com/the-accord-on-fire-building-safety-in-bangladesh.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)

Estimated reading time: 13 minutes.

Posted on August 28, 2024March 11, 2025 by Ian Cook

The 2 Euro T-Shirt – A Social Experiment

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Fashion

ACTIVIST VENDING MACHINE

CHANGE CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

“The 2 Euro T-Shirt – A Social Experiment“
A repurposed vending machine & film made for Fashion Revolution Germany by BBDO & Unit9.
Uploaded to YouTube & embedded in full above.

To mark the second anniversary of the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Fashion Revolution activists in Germany placed a t-shirt vending machine in a public square in Berlin. Shoppers were invited to insert ‘only 2€’ to buy a t-shirt. Before it was dispensed, however, the machine showed them a short film about ‘Manisha’, one of millions of people working in the sweatshops where it could have been made. Shoppers were then presented two options: to get the t-shirt or to donate the 2€ they inserted to the Fashion Revolution movement. Would ‘people care when they know’? Especially at the ‘point of sale’. That was the experiment. The vending machine filmed shoppers as they decided. What were their reactions? What did they choose to do? The YouTube video went viral. What would you do? Buy or donate?

Page reference: Olivia Boertje, Jo Ryley, Alec James, Tori Carter, Becky Watts and Rachel Osborne (2025) The 2 Euro T-Shirt – A Social Experiment. followthethings.com/the-two-euro-t-shirt-experiment.shtml (last accessed <add date here>)

Estimated reading time: 81 minutes.

Posted on August 28, 2024September 9, 2025 by Ian Cook

Made In Cambodia

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Fashion

BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER

ENCOURAGE EMPATHY

“Made in Cambodia“
A dissertation by Helen Clare, submitted as part of their BA Geography degree at the University of Birmingham, UK.
Click the preview pages above to read the dissertation.

Undergraduate student Helen Clare looks through her clothes and finds an H&M t-shirt ‘Made in Cambodia’. She’s traveling to Cambodia to do some charity work in her summer vacation. She wants to find and meet one of the garment factory workers who helped to make that T-shirt for her. But, despite her best efforts, she cannot gain access to the factories where she’s convinced it may have been made. So, she does the next best thing. She takes a course that will give her the qualification to work there. What does she learn along the way? Who does she get to meet? And what can she learn from them about the lives her t-shirt connects?

Dissertation reference: Helen Clare (2006) Made in Cambodia. BA Geography Dissertation: University of Birmingham, UK (followthethings.com/madeincambodia.shtml last accessed <insert date here>)

Page reference: Helen Clare (2024) Made in Cambodia. followthethings.com/made-in-cambodia.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)

Estimated reading time: 92 minutes.

Posted on August 28, 2024July 11, 2025 by Ian Cook

The Song Of The Shirt

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Fashion

1843

UNBRANDED

SHIRT

MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN

WORN IN GREAT BRITAIN

POEM

POP THE BUBBLE

SHOW CAPITALIST EVILS

“The Song Of The Shirt“
A poem written by Thomas Hood, published in Punch magazine.
Original publication in Punch included above.

Curiosity and concern about the poverty of the people who make everyday commodities is as old as capitalism itself. One of the most iconic and influential examples in this genre is a poem called ‘The Song Of The Shirt’ which was published in the satirical British magazine Punch in 1843. This was 24 years before Karl Marx published the first volume of Capital, with its famous opening chapter on the commodity. The subject of the poem is a woman working in East London making linen shirts for the city’s well-to-do men. It contains lines that wouldn’t be out of place in Twenty-First Century trade justice activism: ‘Oh Men, with Sisters dear! O! Men! With mothers and wives! It’s not linen you’re wearing out. But other creatures’ lives’. ‘The Song Of The Shirt’ went viral through the media of its time, being reprinted and discussed in countless newspapers, pamphlets and books across Great Britain and overseas, often with accompanying illustrations of its subject at work. It also crossed over into ‘Song Of The Shirt’ paintings, songs and plays. But how did the poverty of seamstresses come to the surface, here, at this time? How did this poem become so popular and influential? What can we learn from it today?

Page reference: Rachael Midlen & Charlotte Brunton (2014) The Song Of The Shirt (taster). followthethings.com/the-song-of-the-shirt.shtml (last accessed <add date here>)

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes.

Posted on August 28, 2024January 5, 2025 by Ian Cook

Confessions Of An Eco-Sinner

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Fashion | Grocery

“Confessions Of An Eco-Sinner”
A non-fiction book by journalist Fred Pearce.
Available to preview on Google Books (embedded above).

British journalist Fred Pearce travels 180,000 miles, to over 20 countries, to meet the people who produce (and sometimes recycle) the prawns in his curry, the cotton in his shirt, the computer on his desk, the gold in his wedding ring, and many other things. He wants to explore his own personal ecological footprint, and to work out whether he should be ashamed and/or proud of the impact that his shopping has on the world. This is classic ‘follow the thing’ research. A quest narrative. Starting in the Global North. With a person asking ‘who made my stuff?’ They travel the world to meet the people who they rely upon and then reflect on what this means for them (and maybe you) as a ‘consumer’. This is an approach that critics within the ‘follow the thing’ genre would like to ‘de-centre’. This work could start somewhere else! But what can readers learn from Fred’s travels nonetheless? Is everyone, unknowingly, an eco-sinner like he is? And what can be done to prevent the damage that consumption causes, out of sight and out of mind?

Page reference: Robert Black, Naomi Davies, Tom Mead, Pete Statham, Lucy Taylor and Laura Wilkinson (2011) Confessions Of An Eco-Sinner. followthethings.com/confessions-of-an-ecosinner.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)

Estimated reading time: 17 minutes.

Posted on August 28, 2024January 28, 2025 by Ian Cook

China Blue

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Fashion

SHOW CAPITALIST EVILS

TEACH ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

HUMANISE WORKERS

FIND A CHARACTER

FOLLOW THE PEOPLE

BRING MANAGERS INTO VIEW

PUT A MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

FOLLOW THE THING

BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER

ENCOURAGE EMPATHY

“China Blue“
A documentary film directed by Micha X. Peled for Teddy Bear Films.
Trailer embedded above. Search online for streaming options here.

The first film in Micha X. Peled’s ‘Globalisation Trilogy’ is a critique of cut-price retailer Wal-Mart. For the second, Peled finds out how the goods that it sells can be so cheap. He travels to China, to a jeans factory, trying to avoid the authorities in order to make his film. The factory owner is proud, but the working conditions are harsh, and its clients are demanding. Corporate executives sourcing clothes from the factory haggle the price down. They couldn’t compete if they paid living wages. Along with factory manager Mr Lam, a charming , fun-loving 16 year old called Jasmine is the film’s main character. She trims threads, and takes pebbles out of pockets – for up to 20 hours a day. She lives in a cramped dormitory and speculates with her friends about the lives of the ‘fat and tall’ people that wear these jeans overseas. She writes a letter and places it in a pocket for a shopper to find and read. She meets someone whose jeans she has helped to make. She dreams of being a martial arts princess. She wants to work here but is worn down by the endless, tiring work. The film makes some viewers feel implicated. Only a tiny increase in the cost of those jeans could give Jasmine and her friends a living wage. But nobody in China can see this. Peled’s film was banned there.

Page reference: Jess Mayers, Alex Horgan, Sam Spicer, Mike Rastall, Rob Donald and Andi Frost (2012) China Blue. followthethings.com/china-blue.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)

Estimated reading time: 64 minutes.

Posted on August 28, 2024January 26, 2025 by Ian Cook

Cries For Help Found In Primark Clothes (a.k.a. ‘Labelgate’)

Label found by Rebecca Jones
Label found by Rebecca Gallagher
Letter found by Karen Wisinska

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Fashion

“Cries For Help Found In Primark Clothes (a.k.a. ‘Labelgate’)”
Social media posts by Rebecca Jones, Rebecca Gallagher, and Amnesty International Northern Ireland.
Label photos originally posted online embedded above.

Shoppers Rebecca Jones and Rebecca Gallagher find an extra label in dresses they buy from Primark stores in South Wales. One says ‘Forced to work exhausting hours’, the other ‘Degrading sweatshop conditions’. Belfast shopper Karen Wisinska then finds a letter in the pocket of some Primark shorts. It’s written in Chinese, but starts ‘SOS! SOS! SOS!’. It seems to be a coincidence. Rebecca, Rebecca and Karen post them online to share what they have found with their friends and followers. Their posts set off an international ‘whodunnit?’ which makes the national news and ties the company’s PR department in knots. Are they genuine? Are they mischief-making of an artist or activist? Either way, is what they say true?

Will Kelleher & Ian Cook (2014) Cries for help found in Primark clothes (a.k.a. ‘labelgate’). followthethings.com/cries-for-help-found-in-primark-clothes.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)

Estimated reading time: 93 minutes.

Posted on August 28, 2024January 5, 2025 by Ian Cook

Behind The Leather

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Fashion | My Shopping Bag

“Behind The Leather“
An activist stunt by Ogilvy and Mather Advertising, Bangkok for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia.
YouTube video embedded above.

A new luxury store called ‘Leather Works’ opens at the high end CentralWorld mall in Bangkok selling coats, ties, gloves and bags. Shoppers come in to browse. As they touch and try them on, they see flesh, bones, muscles and sinews inside. As they open the handbags, there are beating hearts too. Shoppers get blood on their hands. This leather was clearly ripped from the bodies of crocodiles, snakes, lizards and other ‘exotic’ animals. It’s like a scene from a horror film. Shoppers recoil in shock. These luxury leather goods are disgusting. The video goes viral. Behind this shopping prank is an NGO called People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the ad agency Ogilvy & Mather who made it all for them. PETA’s Asia office wants to draw attention to the cruel conditions under which ‘exotic’ animals are farmed and butchered for luxury leather fashion. But how genuine, how ethical, can a ‘hidden camera’ stunt like this be? What can these shock tactics do?

Page reference: Ian Cook et al (2024) Behind The Leather (taster). followthethings.com/behind-the-leather.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes.

Label found by Rebecca Jones

Label found by Rebecca Gallagher

Letter found by Karen Wisinska