OKA contributor Thiat Makinwa, from the http://www.okayafrica.com/ website, the issues taken with TOMS were exposed. Though I myself am a TOMS supporter the point Makinwa was trying to make was very forward, to say the least, here's a clip from the article below;
"One of the areas directly affected by TOMS’ injection of free goods into a respective community is the local shoe industry. Contrary to what TOMS might have you believe, local shoe makers do in fact exist in many of these areas. However, instead of assisting the local industry by providing funding or other forms of sustainable business growth and development, TOMS bypasses these local businesses and strips these communities of their agency " (Makinwa, Thiat. The Trouble With Toms. Images taken from http://www.okayafrica.com/)
Now, TOMS Bogo model, (Buy One Give One) is clearly something they have committed too and though Makinwa makes the point in other parts of the article that consumers are under the impression they are ending poverty, this isn't a mind set that TOMS is now responsible for. If the TOMS company makes it their mission to give a pair of shoes to those in need then their mission has transparently been accomplished. We can not blame them for the misconception that our consumers are under, besides the fact that it would be silly for us, the common people, to believe that buying a pair of shoes is going to end world poverty, because it isn't. I must say that when I did get my gift of pair of TOMS I knew the money spent on them was at least making more of a difference then most regular purchases made. However, if TOMS is doing exactly what they said they were, then can we really point fingers?
"One of the areas directly affected by TOMS’ injection of free goods into a respective community is the local shoe industry. Contrary to what TOMS might have you believe, local shoe makers do in fact exist in many of these areas. However, instead of assisting the local industry by providing funding or other forms of sustainable business growth and development, TOMS bypasses these local businesses and strips these communities of their agency " (Makinwa, Thiat. The Trouble With Toms. Images taken from http://www.okayafrica.com/) 