Oprah’s handbag

Three Questions:

#1 Is it ethical to manufacture, sell, or buy a product made from crocodiles?

#2 Regardless of your answer to #1 above, was Oprah Winfrey the victim of racism or classism (or both) in the Swiss city of Zurich, when a shop girl refused to show Oprah an expensive ($38,000 USD) crocodile handbag?

(Here is Oprah’s side of the story: “I was in Zurich the other day, in a store whose name I will not mention. *** I go into a store and I say to the woman, ‘Excuse me, may I see the bag right above your head?’ and she says to me, ‘No. It’s too expensive.'” And here is the shop girl’s side of the story.)

#3 Does your response to question #1 have any impact on your answer to question #2?

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About F. E. Guerra-Pujol

When I’m not blogging, I am a business law professor at the University of Central Florida.
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1 Response to Oprah’s handbag

  1. The Professors Wife's avatar The Professors Wife says:

    Q1: I believe it is unethical to kill a crocodile for a consumer good.

    Q2: I believe Oprah was a victim of racism. She was also a victim of classism based on racism. The clerk probably assumed because she is black she couldn’t afford the bag. The clerk also probably assumed that becuase she is black that she was of a lower class. But that’s what she gets for assuming. She should be terminated. She has brought shame to the country who has now issued a public apology. This happened to Oprah once before at a Hermès store although the circumstances were different. http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/22/oprah.apology/

    Q3: my response to question 1 had no impact on my response to question 2.

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