Yesterday, the website GapDoesMore.com -- launched shortly after Gap Inc.'s annual shareholder meeting -- announced that the mega clothing chain was finally going to compensate the families of seven workers killed last year in a fire at Aswad Composite Mills, a Gap supplier in Bangladesh. According to the press release, Gap Inc. would sign the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety.
What great news! The only thing is... GapDoesMore.com has nothing to do with Gap Inc. The website was an epic prank orchestrated by 18 Million Rising in an effort to pressure the clothier to ensure the safety and fair treatment of its workers. In reality, Gap Inc. has not taken responsibility or made any such promises.
Gap Gets Hoaxed With Fake Website Seeking Compensation And Better Working Conditions
Ingenious. The Yes Men would be proud. However, Gap did not take kindly to the fake news that it would be acting responsibly. It took the company less than three hours to get wind of the site and issue a statement decrying the "fraudulent" information on GapDoesMore.com. Gap has since managed to get the website (and its accompanying Twitter account @gapdoesmore) suspended.
Why all the hoaxing and shaming? 18MR explains:
Since 2005, over 1,800 workers have died in industrial accidents at Bangladeshi factories supplying western brands and retailers. Spouses have been widowed, children have been orphaned, and entire communities left impoverished and traumatized – all for the sake of profits.
This afternoon, Gap Inc. issued a statement decrying the hoax and dissemination of “fraudulent” information. In fielded press calls, Gap Inc. has stated that “there's nothing accurate" on the site, but avoids key questions: Why has the company refused to compensate the families of injured and deceased factory workers? Why does the company continue to avoid signing the Bangladesh Accord – choosing instead to collaborate with Walmart, a corporation notorious for creating fronts for unregulated, false accountability?
This is not about a hoax on the company, it’s about justice for the workers who make the company possible. Gap Inc. has refused so far to “do more” for the most vulnerable workers in its supply chain, so now we are demanding more.
More here: 18MillionRising.org (18MR) Targets Gap Inc. With Prank Raising Tough Questions About International Labor Abuses
