Fair trade chocolate activists are infiltrating Hershey’s s’mores-themed photo contest on Facebook today by uploading images of themselves asking Hershey to buy chocolate made without the rampant child and slave labor in the cocoa industry.
Their action, organized on the social action platform Change.org to coincide with National S’mores Day, comes as part of a broader campaign calling on Hershey to Raise the Bar on cocoa. More than 15,000 people have joined a campaign on Change.org calling on Hershey’s to fight child labor in the cocoa industry by using Fair Trade chocolate. Now, activists are using Hershey’s own Facebook contest to continue their protest.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWP6q79ft4g&w=525&h=249%5D
“Consumers across the country are taking photos of themselves asking Hershey for child labor-free s’mores in celebration of National S’Mores Day,” said Tim Newman, Campaign Director for the International Labor Rights Forum. “They’re using Hershey’s own Facebook contest to tell the company that we want s’mores that respect workers and children.”
Earlier this summer, Raise the Bar asked concerned consumers across the country to make videos of themselves placing ‘consumer alerts’ about child labor in the chocolate industry on Hershey’s products in their local supermarkets. Individuals left these ‘consumer alerts’ with smartphone-enabled QR codes on the displays which read: “Hershey’s chocolate is tainted with child labor.” Click here to watch a video of this action.
“For the first time, customers have the power to use social media and other technological tools to demand change from companies,” said Change.org Senior Organizer Amanda Kloer. “It’s activism like this which can really fight the ongoing labor abuses in the cocoa industry.”
Raise the Bar is a coalition formed by Global Exchange, Green America, the International Labor Rights Forum and Oasis.
