When I wrote a certain previous entry, I assumed that, since herbivores tend to have higher IQs and are generally accustomed to doing a certain amount of detective work, it would be easy to deduce which shoe manufacturer’s goods were in question.
Apparently, a few people either didn’t pick up on the clues or didn’t understand that I don’t want to harm the manufacturer or get the sales rep in trouble. Let me ask one question: do you people also get mad at Perez Hilton for posting blind items?
It is not the manufacturer’s fault that some people are passing off some of their wares as vegan when they are not. (They don’t seem to understand why it is so important for a charitable company to produce enough vegan shoes to meet the demand in the first place, but I’m hoping I can help encourage them to change that.) Whichever retailers are engaging in this scheme have the option of telling the company, “No thanks, we’ll just wait to order until you have enough vegan styles to fill the minimum”, but apparently I’m the first one to dig in her heels and actually do that.
I cannot pass along information I do not have. The rep didn’t say WHO was accepting nonvegan shoes. All she said was that she’d had other “vegan” stores do so (but if I figure out who is doing it, I won’t be shy about naming them). I have no intention of pumping her for names, since most companies expect their employees to keep client information confidential and…
I don’t want the sales rep to get into trouble, especially in this economy. Disclosing private information can get someone fired, and this is a horrible time to be an out-of-work or underemployed sales rep. She may not understand why I’m so strict about only ordering vegan items, but that doesn’t mean she deserves to lose her job, particularly at a time like this.
I DO want the veg*n community to support the manufacturer when it is possible to do so. Sure, they definitely aren’t making enough vegan shoes, but if the demand is consistent enough and veg*n consumers are vocal enough, that may change. This company, as I have said, may not be 100% vegan, but they do more charity work than any other shoe company I can think of. If we stop supporting the company entirely just because some desperate retailers are fudging the facts, it takes money out of their pockets…money they need to keep making a difference. All I wanted was to let people know that some retailers are overlooking the truth, and to proceed with caution until that changes.
Some people are idiots who don’t read things carefully. If I posted the company’s name, at least one halfwit would skim the entry, falsely conclude that the manufacturer was entirely to blame, and proceed to damage their reputation. I really, really don’t want that to happen. Blind-item-style entries in any media outlet are self-authorizing – if you can figure them out, you are smart enough to be entrusted with the information.
Here are the clues, again, for your convenience:
- Company is relatively new
- Brand is very, very trendy
- Brand is big on ethics…fair labor, etc.
- Canvas is used extensively…leather is mostly used in soles, not uppers
- It’s not Macbeth. (Macbeth now puts a little green “v” on the backs of their vegan styles for easy identification.)
- Did I mention they do a TON of charity work?
Here is my recommendation: If you want to support this company, I strongly suggest you order directly from their website, at least for now. They clearly label the vegan styles as such, and since they don’t (yet) understand how strong the demand for vegan shoes is becoming, they have little motivation to mislabel their own products. Also, you can contact them through their website and ask them why they aren’t making more vegan styles (try as I might, I can’t do everything by myself).
For the record…no one ever does my detective work for me. I have to do it ALL myself. I have enough to do as it is (the last time I came within 10 feet of a doctor she begged me to take a vacation, so you can imagine), but I don’t waste time getting mad about it. I buckle down and do it - and I dutifully pass along the information IF I can find a way to do so without causing more harm than good (which is kind of the whole point of going vegan in the first place).
Good luck.
