Reebok

Is Reebok an ethical and sustainable brand?

The Good Shopping Guide has researched, rated and ranked Reebok in our Shoes & Trainers: Ethical Comparison Ratings Table. Reebok’s ethics has been evaluated according to over 15 criteria, relating to the Environment, Animals and People. Though Reebok has not yet met our Ethical Benchmark, we encourage this brand to apply for Ethical Accreditation, as this process involves even further investigation into a brand’s sustainability and CSR policies, as well as receiving recommendations and consultancy on how to improve its ethical business practice.

For more information about the Shoes and Trainers sector, read our comprehensive editorial about the ethics of the industry as a whole.

About Reebok

Authentic Brands Group owns the American fitness footwear and apparel company Reebok International Limited. Reebok was launched in England in 1958 as a subsidiary of J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods business that had been established in Bolton, Lancashire, in 1895. The company’s logo included the British flag as a representation of its heritage from 1958 to 1986. In 2005, the German athletic goods business adidas purchased it; in 2021, it was transferred to the American Authentic Brands Group. The corporate headquarters of the corporation are situated in Boston, Massachusetts’ Seaport District.

Is Reebok sustainable and environmentally friendly?

Reebok’s parent companies are largely responsible for the poor rating given to this shoe brand for this category of ethical evaluation. Authentic Brands Group has a page dedicated to the Environment and Sustainability, but this page only lists the company’s partners and says nothing about what the company is actually doing itself. For this, Reebok receives a bottom rating, since neither Reebok (nor Nine West) is written about in this Environmental Report in any detail.

Additionally, Reebok makes no shoes with Sustainable Materials.

BlackRock is renowned for its environmental degradation. An Amazon Watch report details the connections between a network of major international financial institutions and conflicts on Indigenous lands, illegal logging, land grabbing, weakened environmental safeguards, and the production and export of conflict-related goods. BlackRock was one of six significant US-based financial institutions that this report identified as being financially embroiled in this damage to rainforests and the people and wildlife that live there.

Reebok and Human Rights

The parent companies that own Reebok (Authentic Brands Group LLC and BlackRock Inc) do not have a good track record when it comes to Human Rights.

Following charges of sexual harassment and discrimination at the largest asset managers in the world published in the Financial Times and other newspapers, BlackRock has recruited a renowned Wall Street law firm to conduct an internal examination into reports of “employee misbehaviour.” You can read more about the many cases of discrimination at BlackRock in this report from the Financial Times.

How could Reebok improve its Ethical Ratings?

Reebok and its parent companies have many issues to resolve before its Ethical Rating would likely improve on The Good Shopping Guide’s Shoes & Trainers: Ethical Comparison Ratings Table. Reebok must address its poor Environmental track record and its Human Rights criticisms.

If your shoes and trainers brand values ethics and sustainability, why not check out The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Accreditation? Increase customer and investor confidence and stand out from the greenwash.