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Who Made My Trainers? How To Be A Responsible Consumer

Your local supermarket sells really delicious potato crisps. They’re also really cheap. One day a friend tells you that the crisps are made from potatoes which are picked by children. What’s more, the children are not paid. They work 12 hours a day. All they get is a bed and an evening meal. Many of them are sick and unhappy.

Question: Would you keep buying the crisps?

You discover that your favourite brand of shampoo is made by a company that tests its products on rabbits. When they do this, some of the rabbits go blind. Many of them suffer from skin inflammations and have to be destroyed.

Question: Would you keep using this shampoo?

Your favourite music group is really cool, and you buy all their albums. Then you realise that some of their songs contain ideas that could be considered racist and sexist. This is confirmed when you read a news report in which the band leader is accused of having intolerant attitudes towards minority groups.

Question: Would you keep buying their albums?

In this WebQuest you will investigate the way your favourite brands - of clothes, fast food, cosmetics, etc - are produced and marketed, with a view to becoming better informed and therefore a more discriminating consumer.

Check you understand the meaning of these words before you go any further:

• brand
  
• brand name
  
• high street
  
• consumer
  
• logo
  
• marketing
  
• ethical/unethical
  
• exploit, exploitative
  
• sweatshop
  
• multinational
  
  

Use the icons on the left to navigate this WebQuest...