Consumer Activism Task: Exploring Product and Company Links to Issues

This assignment explores the concept of consumer activism by analyzing the links between everyday products and the companies that produce them, with various global issues such as fair trade, human rights, and climate change. The student compiles a list of 10 items ranging from food and beverages to clothing and toys, identifying the associated companies and researching potential positive or negative connections to global concerns. For example, Tim Hortons is linked to issues of low wages and reduced benefits, while Kingston Olive Oil Company faces allegations of diluting its products. Other products and companies are connected to concerns such as environmental degradation, ethical sourcing of raw materials, and human rights violations, showcasing the complex relationship between consumer choices and broader global challenges. Desklib offers a platform to find similar assignments and study resources for students.

Running head: ACTIVISM
Activism
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Item # Product Name + Company Links to Global Issues?
1 Ice Capp; Tim Hortons  Does not pay a living wage (Stevens 2017).
 Temporarily took away a paid break to
'recuperate' costs of minimum wage
increase (Coral, Noonan and Chislett 2015).
2 Olive Oil; Kingston Olive Oil Company  Destructive infighting with the competitors.
 Recently had been diluting the olive oil they
sell to their customers and other parts of
the market (Watson 2018). This led to the
reportedly alleged cases against the
company.
3 Ritz Crackers; Cloverleaf Grocery  Issues in the management of the trade and
tariffs relationship with partner countries
(Aditjandra et al. 2016).
 Failure in the sustainability of
environmental factors.
4 Bb Cream and Tinted Moisturizer; The
Cosmetic Company Inc.
 The environmental degradation and
depletion in the concern of manufacturing
the final products to be sold (Charter 2017).
 The failure in the fulfillment of the demand
of the customers of purchasing the
products that are based on natural
ingredients and does not cause harmful
effect in the skin in the longer run.
5 Crisp Burritos; Taco time  The change in the climatic conditions affect
the tangible goods served by the company
(Tandazo-Yunga 2017). The same becomes
challenging to be handled in the situation of
sudden changes in the climate. However, a
before-hand strategic plan would help in
the mitigation of the concern.
 The corruption level in the government
affects the working conditions and the
profit margin of the company.
6 Handcrafted shirt; Canada Clothing
Company
 Difficulty in obtaining the required amount
of raw materials that are necessary to
prepare the final handcrafted products
(Stannard and Mullet 2018).
 The risks of trade disruptions and the
decrease in the growth of the economies of
scale in the key markets impact the entire
organisation (Knoke 2018).
 The disruption in the environment has led
the spike in the cotton price by over 2000%;
this is recorded to affect the production as
the same faces the stiffer regulation in the

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use and manufacturing.
7 Organic Children Toy; Fidoodle Toys  The productivity and the competitiveness of
the company are affected by the strategic
plans and process and the effective
implementation of the same by the
potential competitors (Suski 2019).
 The availability of the raw materials
concerned with the organic manufacturing
of the toys becomes a huge issue for the
company to meet the demand of the
customers. This leads to dissatisfaction in
the customers’ loyalty.
8 Pockets and Pouches; The Canadian Outdoor
Equipment Co.
 Difficulty in trading their business in other
parts of the world because of the reduction
in the market share of the company (Pigou
2017).
 The revenue gain of the company is limited
over the last five years because of new
companies emerging in the market of toys
with innovated technologies in them
(Deming 2018).
9 Triple Stacker King; Burger King  The various disputes and lawsuits Burger
King has to face in concern of the
international fast food chain industry it
operates (Adams 2018).
 The accusations of the political conciliation
from the different parties around the past
years (Lasser 2017).
 Issues raised against the company by the
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
in the concern of the welfare of the animals
complying with the health issues and
labelling laws (McKenna 2017).
 Violation of Human Rights (Shelton 2015).
10 Carrot Cake; Bloor street market  The conflict in the trade level of the
company with the policies of the
government and other concerned
supermarket companies (Rogerson 2015).
 The retailing and the distribution issues
(Ordonez et al. 2019).
 The high intervention of the government in
the sector of retail chain industry.

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References
Adams, C.J., 2018. Burger. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Aditjandra, P.T., Zunder, T.H., Islam, D.M.Z. and Palacin, R., 2016. Green rail
transportation: Improving rail freight to support green corridors. In Green Transportation
Logistics (pp. 413-454). Springer, Cham.
Charter, M., 2017. Greener marketing: A responsible approach to business. Routledge.
Coral, M., Noonan, J. and Chislett, P., 2015. Destructive Creation. Alternate Routes: A
Journal of Critical Social Research, 27, p.313.
Deming, W.E., 2018. The new economics for industry, government, education. MIT press.
Knoke, D., 2018. Changing organisations: Business networks in the new political economy.
Routledge.
Lasser, W., 2017. The limits of judicial power: the Supreme Court in American politics. UNC
Press Books.
McKenna, C., 2017. Industry Standards on Farm Animal Welfare. The Meat Crisis:
Developing more Sustainable and Ethical Production and Consumption.
Ordóñez, C., Grant, A., Millward, A.A., Steenberg, J. and Sabetski, V., 2019. Developing
Performance Indicators for Nature-Based Solution Projects in Urban Areas: The Case of
Trees in Revitalised Commercial Spaces. Cities and the Environment (CATE), 12(1), p.1.
Pigou, A., 2017. The economics of welfare. Routledge.
Rogerson, C.M., 2015. Unpacking national policy towards the urban informal
economy. Mean streets: Migration, xenophobia and informality in South Africa, pp.229-248.

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Shelton, D., 2015. Remedies in international human rights law. Oxford University Press,
USA.
Stannard, C.R. and Mullet, K., 2018. Consumption of Raw Materials by Crafters: Desired
Characteristics of Yarn and Retailers. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 36(1), pp.17-
32.
Stevens, A., 2017. The Fight for a $15 Minimum Wage in Saskatchewan. Canadian Centre for
Policy Alternatives.
Suski, L., 2019. Consumption, global humanitarianism and childhood. Global
humanitarianism and media culture, p.207.
Tandazo-Yunga, J.V., Ruiz-González, M.X., Rojas, J.R., Capa-Mora, E.D., Prohens, J.,
Alejandro, J.D. and Acosta-Quezada, P.G., 2017. The impact of an extreme climatic
disturbance and different fertilisation treatments on plant development, phenology, and yield
of two cultivar groups of Solanum betaceum Cav. PloS one, 12(12), p.e0190316.
Watson, R.R. ed., 2018. Polyphenols in plants: isolation, purification and extract
preparation. Academic Press.