Burberry Burning Its Own Clothes To Protect Brand

There are people out there who can barely afford clothes and Burberry burns $36 million worth of product because of complete snobbery.

Destroyed intentionally by Burberry in the past year alone, the Guardian reports. Literally burned fashion( approximately 20,000 of the brand’s iconic trench coats) and cosmetic products carrying the Burberry trademark.

Their explanation is that the cosmetics needed to be destroyed because its beauty line has recently been acquired by Coty, a multinational beauty company.

But shareholders at the company’s annual meeting demanded an answer to why investors weren’t given the chance to purchase some of the unsold stock.

Burberry is not the only company who practices this.  H&M and Richemont, which owns Cartier and Montblanc, have also been known to destroy excess product, according to the Times.

"The reason they are doing this is so that the market is not flooded with discounts. They don't want Burberry products to get into the hands of anyone who can sell them at a discount and devalue the brand," says Maria Malone, principal lecturer on the fashion business at Manchester Metropolitan University.

"Despite their high prices, Burberry shows no respect for their own products and the hard work and natural resources that are used to made them," said Lu Yen Roloff of Greenpeace.

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