Main Cause of Burberry’s Unethical Behavior | Business Ethics

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BUSINESS ETHICS
The Main Cause of Burberry’s Unethical Behavior
Burberry has come under criticism from Greenpeace, British Fashion, as well as
environmentalists due to its unethical behaviors of burning unsaleable products. Over the last
five years, the organization has accounted to have destroyed unsold perfumes, clothes, along
with accessories worth more than €90m ("Burberry burns luxury goods worth millions", 2020).
The company’s unethical practices are attributed to the need to protect its brand as well as its
products from being obtained illegally and getting sold at cheaper prices. However, what
Burberry failed to take into account are the resources that were being used to manufacture their
products, which would end up being destroyed. Nonetheless, Burberry’s unethical behavior
could also be attributed to the company’s desire to conserve its intellectual property, which is the
organization’s asset.
In the wake of global warming which has been a result of pollution, Burberry’s behavior
of burning unsold stock is unethical. The company defended itself against critics of its behavior
by stating that they seriously take environmental obligations into consideration by putting in
place measures in place to capture the generated energy ("Burberry Ends Unethical Practices -
TFG Club", 2020). However, their behavior does not warrant the use of resources to manufacture
products and later destroy them in the name of protecting the company’s brand.
Nonetheless, protecting a company’s brand image is crucial if it is to remain viable in a
competitive environment. The brand image of an organization can be affected by several non-
branding decisions that may include animal testing, labor disputes, and others. As a result,
managers, as well as other employees, are entitled to make decisions by making reference to

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ethical questions that may affect a company’s image. If something goes wrong in an
organization, it is always the brand image that suffers. For instance, the downfall of Enron was
attributed to corrupt top management. Thus, it is evident that the brand image is a delicate issue
because it is affected by the misbehavior of a firm. This is no different in the case of Burberry
that seeks to retain and build its brand image by destroying unsold products (Moore, 2020).
However, the factor that Burberry fails to take into account in its practice is that their behavior is
unethical and it could end up ruining the company’s brand image rather than building it.
In addition, by destroying products, Burberry aims to make sure that their products do not
enter other sales channels. As a way of dealing with surplus luxury stock to protect the
company’s brand image, destroying products is however not a green practice. Besides, this
practice is not socially responsible because there are many individuals that lack clothes to put on.
This statement is supported by Boriana Guimberteau’s, - a specialist at FTPA law firm-
sentiments that in their behavior, there are moral and ethical questions along with protecting the
environment ("Self-destructive behavior: Burberry not alone in the practice of burning unsold
clothes, accessories and perfume", 2020). Nonetheless, the unethical behavior by Burberry to
destroy products such as perfumes and cosmetics could have been to ensure consumer safety as
these products have expiry dates. Further, Lu Yen Roloff of Greenpeace retaliates that Burberry's
behavior is unethical because, despite the high price of their products, they show less respect to
their products, including the hard work as well as the resources that are used to manufacture such
products.

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References
Burberry burns luxury goods worth millions. (2020). Retrieved 2 April 2020, from
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44885983?
fbclid=IwAR2N69e5b6EzevynSZigLBnwM7E7e3OjkHW2B9S6QBTVXeoAc9t-
dei3cg8
Burberry Ends Unethical Practices - TFG Club. (2020). Retrieved 2 April 2020, from
https://www.tfgclubmagazine.co.za/celeb-news/burberry-ends-unethical-practices/
Moore, J. (2020). 'Burberry isn’t progressive for promising to stop burning stuff'. Retrieved 2
April 2020, from https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/burberry-burning-clothes-
products-fur-ban-not-progressive-designer-fashion-industry-a8525511.html
Self-destructive behaviour: Burberry not alone in practice of burning unsold clothes, accessories
and perfume. (2020). Retrieved 2 April 2020, from
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/self-destructive-behaviour-burberry-not-
alone-in-practice-of-burning-unsold-clothes