Analysis of The Influence of The Adidas Brand

Is Adidas Good For Society?

The sportswear brand Adidas is definitely well known throughout the world. In 2013 Adidas was the third most valuable sports business brand in the world, making more than seven-billion dollars(U.S.) and only exceeded by Nike and ESPN. Adidas also employs more than seven-hundred thousand workers in twelve-hundred factories spread across sixty-five countries. However, most of those workers are employed in countries where labor laws are not in effect, and are paid wages that barely allow them to eat a meal every day, let alone to support their families. Due to this, it is arguable that Adidas is a bane to society. Adidas is guilty of globalization by the integration of their products into the societies of these countries.

In countries like Sri Lanka, The Philippines, and Indonesia, workers for Adidas are neglected in the sense that they receive very little pay. On any given day a worker makes about thirty rupiah, which isn’t even equal to the value of a dollar. Due to these low wages, workers are essentially forced to skip meals, and in most cases, give their ATM cards to loan sharks. This shows that Adidas is an exploiter of these countries because for years workers have fought to receive increased pay, but are only ignored. Globalization is shown here because one aspect of globalization is the use of foreign labor, especially with little pay. This also shows that globalization is a bane to society because it leads to humans taking advantage of other humans.

Another way Adidas manages to mistreat its workers is by not allowing the organization of unions. Due to the lack of love laws preventing the mistreatment of workers, Adidas does not allow workers to establish unions despite years of protest and demand. Unions typically allow workers to feel safe in their work because they make sure that employers are not abusive in an way and that they provide equally,for every worker. Since the workers aren't protected, they experience abuse from theirs supervisor or manager. This could include verbal abuse, such as being cursed at, or physical abuse, where workers sometimes have shoes thrown at them. For obvious reasons, the fact that workers have been trying to establish unions but are constantly denied shows that Adidas is harmful to society because they do not show concern for the safety of their employees,which shows an aspect associated with globalization that a company takes advantage of foreign labor. This also shows that globalization is bad for society because it leads to an overall lack of concern for foreign employees, which may adapt to include domestic employees if the U.S. would allow it.

Despite its actions in countries overseas, Adidas manages to maintain its popularity among society. Just like other companies who mistreat workers in the same way, such as Nike, it’s as if the actions of these companies are ignored due to the amount of revenue that they make, which essentially allows them to buy themselves out of their problems. The fact that Adidas doesn’t show concern for safety of workers and allows them to live such impoverished lives shows that although they are very popular, they are popular in way that is incriminating for lesser developed countries.