Misleading the client
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Selling rabbit fur and branding it as the more respectful ‘faux fur’? This is what Boohoo has recently been accused of.
This British brand which is very popular in Europe due to its low prices, has recently been accused of something quite serious over the past few days. According to a study led by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the female clothing brand could have deliberately been lying on their labels.
Some of their products, labelled as ‘faux fur’ were actually found to contain… rabbit fur.
Cruelty-free?
One product in particular is under investigation: a jumper with tassels that is said to be made with synthetic fur but which, after testing done by Humane Society International, proves that it was actually made out of rabbit hair.
As you can guess, there has been outrage towards the brand that has made it very clear in the past and present that they are firmly against using real fur in their products.
Cut your losses
As for Boohoo, they have been trying to distinguish the fire:
‘The articles were obtained from an external UK-based supplier, who were aware of the company’s commitment against the sale of real fur and had signed a supplier acknowledgement form committing to not suppling products containing real fur.’
This allowed the brand to clear their name by putting the blame on their suppliers.
Recurring cases
In the meantime, the jumper has been immediately recalled from sales and the brand has announced that they will be launching a large enquiry into their stocks to make sure all the products in question contain synthetic fur and nothing else.
Although the issue is revolting, it’s not the only one that exists. In 2017, Missguided was accused of selling pumps decorated with ‘faux fur’ which actually turned out to be… cat fur!
It should also be noted that although faux fur is more ethical, it’s not actually as good for the environment as you may think. The fibers are actually made from an acrylic polymer, whose production largely involves petrol and as such, is extremely dangerous for the environment.
