Our eyes popped out when we spotted this recent ad for World Industries skatewear in Alternative Press magazine. It wasn’t the threads, but what the ad said about them:
“Young women, children and the elderly slave away in inhumane conditions… while earning $1.50 a month so that you can have the best in handmade garments.”
Maybe we’re thick, but we missed the joke. We tried interviewing World Industries owner Scott Drouillard, who replied via e-mail. “It’s most obviously meant as a joke,” Drouillard wrote, adding that “almost all” of his clothing is American-made.
Drouillard said the ad pokes fun at people who are “hypersensitive” about sweatshop-labor issues. But we think World Industries insulted people who get paid pennies a day to work in overseas sweatshops. And coming from a company that makes expensive skate duds, that’s pretty snotty.
