Hassell 1

Sophie Hassell
Professor Jizi
University Writing 1103
17 November 2015
Double Entry Journal
Citation:
Murphy, Patrick E., and Eugene R. Laczniak. "TOMS: One for One Movement!" Ethics in
Marketing: International Cases and Perspectives. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2012.
133-142. Print.
Source: Quote (Page# or Paragraph#)

Responses

The cost of providing the shoes to children

in need is built into the shoes sales price. The
Customer is thereby turned into the
Interesting business model.
benefactor, enabling TOMS to become a
sustainable organization based on giving back
to the world on a continuous basis (133).
This ensures that people will purchases
As long as people continue to purchase
TOMS shoes because not only will it make
TOMS shoes, children in need will receive a
customers feel good but it also ensures a child
pair in return (133).
Since its founding, TOMS has been widely

will be given a pair from a credible company.

This gives the TOMS company a good

successful among regular individuals and

backing and makes them look more credible.

celebrities. Scarlett Johansson and Keira

This could have also enabled to company to

Knightly were among the first to become

stay so ethical through their popularity and

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celebrity fans of TOMS products (134).

celebrity support.
These three reasons, although extremely sad,

The three reasons for why shoes are important

make TOMs look very ethical. By marketing

The Importance of Shoes (134)

their products through these reasons, they are

demonstrating how positive their impact is.

Friends of TOMS, the companys non-profit

subsidiary, is responsible for organizing
Cool component of the TOMS company.
volunteer activities and all shoes drops
(134).
TOMS Shoes has taken proactive steps to
Good example of ethical marketing. Allows
encourage word-of-mouth communication
people who enjoy the product to promote it.
(135).
These factories are audited by third parties to
I admire this because not only is TOMS doing
ensure that workers are being treated fairly.
good in the world they are following
TOMS has its factory workers sign a code of
regulations and adhering to the labor laws.
conduct stating that they will follow all the
This demonstrates good business ethics.
stipulations (136).
Another demonstration on how TOMS is
TOMS continuously seeks retailers that are

good at marketing. They only put their

passionate about TOMS mission (136).

products in companies they know believe

Next, TOMS must distribute shoes to the

what they do.

I admire this very much. Not only does

children that need them. TOMS collaborates

TOMS provide shoes to children, they figure

with nonprofits to identify children in need.

out how to get those children the shoes.

These giving partners must be actively

involved with the children in their

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communities and objectively evaluate where
TOMS shoes can have the biggest impact on
childrens lives. The organizations TOMS
chooses are ones in humanitarian, health, and
education fields (136).
TOMS original product lines were derived
Interesting. I want to see the original shoes
from the Argentinean Alpargata shoe design
warn by the farmers.
worn by farmers in the region (137).
customers, employees, interns, and
students engage in significant word-of-mouth

Unlike big business, TOMS does not spend a

advertising. However, TOMS also markets

huge amount of money to market their

itself through events, DVD screenings, and

products.

social media (139).

TOMS Shoes is an example of a business that has practiced components of ethical

marketing. Customers feels good about purchasing the shoes because they know another pair will
be donated from them to children in need. These shoes have been promoted by celebrities and

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regular people. Shoes are extremely important for children to have because they provide them
with health benefits and give them many opportunities to better themselves. Whiles TOMS is a
for-profit organization they have a strictly volunteer based organization called Friends of TOMS.
This organization provides the shoes to the children in need and make sure the shoes are going to
those who really need them. In order to market their products, TOMS majorly relies on
inexpensive word-of-mouth ways such as their customers sharing their experiences with the
product and social media. While this is unlike many companies that spend millions of dollars in
marketing, it sticks to the TOMS message and has proved extremely successful.
In the beginning of my research, I was interested in finding companies that have
practiced unethical marketing. When I found this chapter, I wanted to read into a company that
has marketed their product(s) in an ethical way that stands firm on their message. TOMS shoes
has created a unique business model that works with their limited marketing budget. I was
captivated with the background of this company and the legitimacy in which TOMS finds the
children to give their shoes to. This chapter is relevant to my topic on Marketing Ethics because
it provides a detailed analysis of how TOMS shoes is an ethical marketing company. This also
pertains to my topic because it demonstrates how not every business is looking to make the most
money they can no matter how they market their product. Although TOMS can be viewed as
very ethical in many ways, this demonstrates how controversial marketing ethics really is.
Components of the TOMS movement can be seen as unethical by some people. This just goes to
show how difficult it is to be perceived as a strictly ethical company.
This is a credible source because it comes out of a book a recent 2012 book whose
objective is to provide insight into the marketing world. Ethics in Marketing: International
Cases and Perspectives contains multiple examples of marketing dilemmas and issues that face

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todays society. Along with this, the book also discusses positive examples of marketing ethics to
provide its readers with multiple perspectives of the marketing world. The purpose of this book
is to educate students and readers with real life examples of controversial ethical topics.