The "Black Book on Brand Companies" ("Schwarzbuch Markenfirmen") by Klaus
Werner and Hans Weiss finally provides consumers with an insight in the unscrupulous
practices of renowned and popular global players.
The "Black Book on Brand Companies" is not yet available in English. For foreign rights please do not hesitate to contact Annette Lechner of the Deuticke Verlag.
Phone: +43 (1) 505 76 61-12,
Fax: +43 (1) 505 76 61-10
Adidas, Bayer, Nike, Donna Karan, Siemens, Shell ... Which of the most
popular and best-known brand companies have founded their highly profitable
businesses on exploitative practices, child labour, environmental destruction
or cruelty to animals? An increasing number of consumers demand that their
favourite consumer goods must not be produced at the cost of inhumane
working conditions or the destruction of the basis of living of entire
peoples. But these demands also create confusion: Which products am I
allowed to buy at all?
The 'Schwarzbuch Markenfirmen' provides you with answers. It tries to
go beneath the image of the top brands on the market and reveals which
of them have the most skeletons in their closet. But it also shows the
power of consumers in forcing these companies to change their business
practices. Detailed portraits of 50 companies, product lists and practical
tips make this book a very special shopping guide.
The authors also did some undercover research for this book – taking
the part of an unscrupulous commodities dealer in Africa or a corrupt
pharmaceuticals manager in East Europe. Already Klaus Werner's former
book 'Prost Mahlzeit - Essen und Trinken mit gutem Gewissen' was a useful
handbook for critical consumers. Hans Weiss is the renowned co-author
of best-sellers such as 'Bittere Pillen', which appeared first in 1983
and has since found more than two million readers and has been translated
into many other languages.
The 'Black Book of Brand Companies' has first been published in German
in September 2001 by Deuticke
Verlag and reedited in 2006 by Ullstein. It turned into a best-seller within a
few days. More than 150.000 copies have been sold since. The book has been translated
into Dutch, Spanish,
Turkish, Hungarian, Swedish, Bulgarian and Japanese. Chinese, Russian and Korean will follow soon.
50 Brands in the Pillory
The core of the book comprises detailed portraits of 50 companies, each on
a double page, indicating logos, product lists and essential company data. These
portraits show that image and reality are often worlds apart. The range of the
misdemeanours of these companies is as varied as the range of the products they
sell: The Swiss lingerie chain Triumph is criticised for its cooperation with
a ruthless military regime, whereas Siemens is blamed for participating in dam
construction projects due to which millions of people are forced to leave their
homes. Also well-known accusations from the past have not lost their relevance:
Nestlé is still marketing baby foods in Third World countries, even though
the WHO claims that in these countries, each year 1.5 million children die of
the consequences of being fed with substitute products for mother's milk. And
Shell is still responsible for environmental destruction in Nigeria.
Bayer, TotalFinaElf and McDonald's
These are the "top three of the bad guys". Bayer is engaged in financing
illegitimate pharmaceuticals experiments, Bayer is putting hazardous poisonous
substances in circulation, and Bayer is one of the major financiers of the trade
with bloody commodities in an African war zone. The oil multinational TotalFinaElf
is almost always present if human rights abuse meets oil production: Myanmar,
Sudan, Angola and Nigeria. And McDonald's is criticised not only for the consequences
in respect of the environment and cattle farming brought about by its industrial
meat consumption: Toys which serve for luring children into the hamburger restaurants
have been manufactured by exploiting child labour in China.
The 'Schwarzbuch Markenfirmen' also throws light on what is behind such greed
for profit and commercial abuse. Separate chapters deal with the segments foods,
clothing, toys, electronics, pharmaceuticals, fuels, and banks. Two exclusively
researched chapters ('Blood for Mobile Phones' and 'Human Guinea-Pigs') are
based on undercover research and on-site investigations. The remaining reports
are based on research by human rights groups, trade unions, church organisations,
and critical journalists. Klaus Werner and Hans Weiss collected the most serious
accusations, provided additional research and updated them. Their major source
of information was the Internet, where the authors were able to locate previously
neglected documents, but also to access the business reports of the multinationals
themselves, in order to subject these contents to a critical evaluation and
check their accuracy.
No Scruples & Co. - Brand Power and Human Rights
Author: Klaus Werner
The initial chapter deals with the economic mechanisms of the power of multinationals,
double standards and unethical commercial practices. It outlines the background
of the protests against global economic powers that took place in Seattle, Prague
and Davos, but also the considerable efforts on the part of large corporations
to create a socially just brand image. Nevertheless, some positive examples
emphasise how consumers can force multinationals to take social responsibility.
Blood for Mobile Phones - The Electronics Industry
Author: Klaus Werner
By purchasing commodities, a subsidiary of Bayer substantially contributes
to financing the war in Congo, which has already cost 2.5 million lives. The
commodity in question is a metal required for electronic components of mobile
phones and computers. Klaus Werner reveals how the game is worked between the
multinational, the middlemen, the parties at war and the local Mafia. Interviews
with rebels and profiteers throw light on their respective motives. A report
from the war zone confronts us with the sufferings of the population. Based
on an undercover investigation via the Internet, where Werner himself took the
part of a dealer, the author is able to prove that several German companies
and an electronics corporation of international renown have no scruples to cooperate
with the warmongers.
Human Guinea-Pigs - Pharmaceuticals
Author: Hans Weiss
Hans Weiss switched careers over night and became a pharmaceuticals manager;
via the Internet, hospital managers from Hungary agreed to permit him - against
payment of a considerable fee - to carry out forbidden pharmaceuticals experiments
on patients. The report describes why international pharmaceuticals corporations
increasingly choose to test new medicaments in East European and so-called Third
World countries, and reveals the unethical practices of the multinationals and
how the doctors involved become their accomplices.
Greasy Business - Fuels
Author: Klaus Werner
Human rights are abused most of all in the oil industry. To secure their profits
from black gold, some oil multinationals finance wars, hire killer troops and
make whole regions inhabitable.
Eat and Be Eaten - Foods
Author: Klaus Werner
To enable us to consume cheap tropical fruits and luxury goods like coffee,
tea and chocolate, many companies of the food-processing industry accept the
"necessity" of child labour, slavery, exploitation and environmental
destruction.
Bread and Circuses - Children's Toys
Author: Hans Weiss
Our children are surrounded by toys from morning till night. But many of the
most popular characters are actually manufactured by children who have to work
under inhumane conditions in one of the low-wage countries in Asia.
For a Fistful of Dollars - Clothing
Author: Klaus Werner
The fashion and sports articles industries are not willing to bear the cost
of providing for humane working conditions at their suppliers. In an effort
to save their image, Nike & Co. have introduced a code of conduct, including
e.g. a ban on child labour. But this approach in many cases only makes the situation
worse.
Exported Problems - Banks and Big Industry
Author: Klaus Werner
Banks and big corporations invest billions of Dollars in large-scale projects
in Africa, Asia and Latin America - in many cases to the detriment of the local
people and their basis of living. Entire continents are left to drown in a sea
of debt, while the multinationals continue to increase their profits.
"This book is not meant to spoil your fun in consuming ", Klaus Werner
and Hans Weiss observe in their introduction to the 'Schwarzbuch Markenfirmen'.
"Quite on the contrary: It is meant to give you a taste for being aware
as a consumer and perhaps even become active. More and more people wish to combine
their pleasure with the demand that a humane standard of living must be guaranteed
also at the other end of the production chain. Whatever this demand will look
like - we can assure you of one thing: This book will make you furious."
