There is no peace for Shein, the Chinese fast fashion brand is once again under the spotlight in France with accusations of greenwashing. There Jury de Déontologie Publicitaire (JDP) rejected the brand’s recent advertising campaign, deeming the sustainability claims too vague and misleading. And it is not the first time that the company has found itself involved in similar controversies: in the past, both in France and in Italy, Shein had been fined for misleading communications on environmental matters.
The Shein campaign in France
Last spring, Shein launched a series of billboards that carried the message: “At Shein, we work every day to make fashion accessible to everyone and continually improve our modelThe posters were accompanied by a QR code that linked to a web page dedicated to the brand’s environmental commitments.
According to JDP, however, the information provided was too general to allow consumers to clearly evaluate the company’s actual sustainable commitment. The jury then underlined that the campaign does not respect “different rules of the ethical framework to which the advertising profession is subject”, in particular for the inability to be sincere, the lack of clarity and the failure to respect the principles of social and environmental responsibility.
The JDP had received 4 complaints about Shein advertising from private citizens and one from France Nature Environnement, a French environmental association. The plaintiffs denounced Shein’s model which is based on excessive and often unsustainable consumption, highlighting the now well-known serious critical issues linked to workers’ rights, in particular shifts that exceed 18 hours a day, negligible wages and the use of cotton obtained through forced labor.
Shein, as always, rejected the accusations, claiming that the criticisms derive from journalistic investigations without “scientific guarantee”. The jury, however, focused on the communicative ineffectiveness of the campaign, regardless of the veracity of external criticism. As the JDP explains in the press release, the opinion was issued later “an in-depth analysis of the elements brought to the attention of the Advertising Ethics Jury, respecting the rights of the defense and the balance between the parties”.
The conclusions on Shein’s advertising campaign once again invite both brands and consumers to reflect: communicating sustainability is not enough, it is necessary to concretely demonstrate the positive impacts of one’s actions, avoiding vague or misleading messages.
The protests over the opening of Shein physical stores in France
This new defeat for Shein is intertwined with the many controversies surrounding the opening of the Chinese giant’s physical sales points in French department stores. The inauguration of the first shop, scheduled for the BHV Marais in Paris, sparked many protests from environmental associations and consumer groups, and gave rise to a petition which in just a few days collected more than 100,000 signatures.
France seems to be sending a very clear message: it does not intend to support Shein or facilitate the expansion of a fast fashion model that is controversial from every point of view – environmental, social and economic.
Sources: JDP / Que Choisir
