Public distrustful after Gap child labour story

by Claire Murphy PR Week UK 19-Nov-07, 10:53

A survey commissioned by PRWeek has found that almost half of consumers don't trust retailers to audit their own supply chains.

It comes in the wake of the Gap child labour story unearthed by The Observer.

Some 41 per cent say they don’t trust any retailer to perform this task, while 44 per cent only trust some retailers.

Meanwhile only 12 per cent deem Gap’s ethical stance as good or excellent.

This is despite a media relations onslaught by Gap and its agency Brunswick in the wake of the revelation.

Statements and spokespeople pointed out the retailer’s stringent ethical policies and its eagerness to learn from what it termed the ‘embarrassing episode’, which occurred when a supplier’s sub-contractor arranged for a factory using child labour to work on embroidery.

See this week's magazine for a more detailed analysis