When it comes to luxury brands, it’s understandable that the brand has to live up to its standard and protect its brand from any forms of infringement. But when we found out that British luxury brand, Burberry burned its unsold clothes, accessories, and perfume worth £28.6 million (32 million euros, $37 million), according to its annual report, a common practice across the industry to guard against counterfeiting and its products to be sold at discounted prices, we’re speechless.
Millions literally went up in smokes! What about the accessories, clothes, beauty products that are still in mint condition? People are going dumpster diving to salvage products, is this why the brand decided to burn their leftover stocks instead of disposing or donating it to a cause?
Burberry released this statement regarding their practice:
“Burberry has careful processes in place to minimize the amount of excess stock we produce. On the occasions when the disposal of products is necessary, we do so in a responsible manner and we continue to seek ways to reduce and revalue our waste.”
The brand also stated that it takes its environmental obligations seriously and harnesses the energy from burning the items, not forgetting their partnerships with organisations such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation that work to reduce waste in the industry.
The world is already facing a large amount of wastage especially in the fast-fashion industry and with luxury brands going on the same route, environmentalist and mother Earth is not going to be very happy.
It’ll be interesting to see what steps other brands will take to be more eco-friendly while still protecting its brand.
Thoughts?
Do you think it was a wise move from Burberry to burn all traces of its products to prevent counterfeiting or donating them for philanthropic purposes would have been a better alternative?
Sources: AFP
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