I rarely see anything about J.Crew in the news, or during my daily life. I don’t get their catalog, nor do I shop in their stores (not as a matter of protest, I just don’t). Yet, for some reason, today I’ve been seemingly inundated with news and tidbits about the company…

First, I was blown away by the PETA videos that seemed to be directed at J.Crew, and only J.Crew, and second, I came across an interesting post on customer relations (from Church of the Customer) and how J.Crew really has their act together in that department.

I must admit, I think I am still shaken by the gruesomeness of the PETA videos (rightly so) and am probably letting myself become ever so slightly biased against J.Crew because of it. The truth is, if the situation were reversed and I had seen the post about customer relations earlier today, and the PETA videos just a few minutes ago, I definitely would have had a much more positive reaction to the customer relations post. It’s an interesting problem, and one that I am not sure how to deal with.

The paranoia that I feel this type of scenario can lead to has the potential to make me question everything, from the computer I am writing this on, the shirt I am wearing to the companies my clients work for…

…as it should. I think the difficult thing is that this type of questioning, and the general discomfort that arises about things we take for granted, is sorely needed. It is far too easy to go about our daily lives blindly consuming without giving too much thought about what we are consuming. I am certainly guilty of spending far too little time considering what I am inadvertently accepting every time I fork over some money for a product, and while I make a strong effort to make more conscientious decisions (organic produce, fair trade coffee, supporting small businesses vs. multinational conglomerates, etc.) it is incredibly easy to fall back into an ambivalent and uninformed purchasing pattern.

The unfortunate reality is that no matter how disturbed the PETA videos may have made you and I, without some serious commitment and far-reaching consumption changes, chances are, we are actually perpetuating the situation in one way or another. So what’s the solution? If everything seems so futile, why bother?

Because change is possible. And because action is better than ambivalence, even if it creates the need for more action. Dialogue is the beginning of action and at least brings the topic out from the back of the closet, even if only for a short time. And if that ends up making a difference, then it was worth it.

TAGS: J.Crew | PETA | Ethics | Consumption

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 25th, 2005 at 10:43 pm and is filed under Business Ethics, Business Strategy, Interesting News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.