Dumbest "socially responsible" businessman ever

The article "Going After Nike" in INC Magazine's October issue profiled "antipreneur" (their word) Kalle Lasn.

Kalle Lasn comes off as a complete idiot, a certifiable screw-up of a human being, and someone you would want to do business with only after receiving a full frontal lobotomy.

He co-founded the magazine AdBusters.

My biggest beef with Lasn? In the article, he details his plans to create an "anti-Nike" shoe. I leave the reasons why as an exercise to the reader. One of his goals was to have them manufactured "right" - appparently meaning no sweat-shops, wages that would not activate his white liberal guilt, the usual drivel.

His solution? Contract with an Indonesian manufacturer, maybe someone in a less-than-first-world Asian nation?

Nope.

They outsourced production to Portugal.

That's right. Not a 3rd-world country. Not a struggling democracy. A member of the European Union.

Guess them poor Asian working stiffs will just have to have one less job opportunity...


Written by Andrew Ittner in misc on Fri 10 September 2004. Tags: business