Twitterverse grumbles as Asos launches NHS heroes tees and hoodies

Asos has unveiled a new line of charity t-shirts and hoodies to support NHS workers amid the coronavirus outbreak.

These will be released each week for the next four weeks, with the first ones featuring a ‘Heroes’ slogan.

Tees and hoodies are £20 and £30 respectively and Asos will match 100% of profits from every sale to donate to UK hospitals.

“Giving back has always been super-important for us. We want to be here for all moments in our customers’ lives, including the difficult ones. We have our own charity, the Asos Foundation, supporting children and young adults in the UK and overseas, as well as our ongoing work with the Prince’s Trust and Centrepoint,” the pureplay says in an online post.

“And right now, our focus is on supporting people in the mammoth fight against the coronavirus outbreak, so we’re showcasing great charity work on our Asos social channels. These are just some of the things we’re doing to show our support – but it won’t end there.”

Not impressed

Unlike many of its competitors, Asos has stayed open throughout the coronavirus outbreak. It recently reported a 21% rise in sales to £1.6 billion for the six months to the end of February. And it posted a record pre-tax profit of £30.1 million in the first half, the result of strong trading and cost cutting.

At the same time, it has raised more than £200 million from shareholders as it seeks to mitigate the effects of the lockdown that has reduced consumers’ appetite for clothes etc. Asos also said it was finalising discussions to secure a 12-month extension to its debt facility of between £60 million and £80 million.

It is seeing a significant downturn in demand, with sales dropping as much as 25% in the last three weeks of trading. Meanwhile, according to the GMB, its warehouse workers are begging the retailer to close, saying they are ‘like rats’ trapped in a ‘cradle of disease’.

So, somewhat unsurprisingly, some people have given the aforementioned charity t-shirts and hoodies the thumbs down on social media.

“Something about Asos selling “NHS Heroes” t shirts just doesn’t sit right with me when their warehouses, which are an absolute breeding ground for the virus, are still open with 98% of their workers saying they feel unsafe,” said @katieaalexandra.

“@Asos selling jumpers to raise money for the NHS, yet don’t want to protect their warehouse staff,” commented @holisticxhan.

Asos responds

“We totally refute the allegations made by the GMB. They are false, do nothing more than serve to create panic and hysteria in an already uncertain time, and are part of a continuing campaign against us and the recognised union on site, Community,” an Asos spokesperson recently told RTIH.

“It is simply not true to say we don’t have social distancing protocols in place and it is not true to say that we have thousands of employees working under one roof. The reality is we typically have around 500 colleagues working in our 680,000 square feet facility at any one time and we have strict social distancing protocols in place but, it must be said, it is also our colleagues’ responsibility to adhere to them.”

The spokesperson added that, as directed by the government, it, along with other online retailers, is ensuring it strikes the right balance between keeping its warehouse operational and maintaining the health and safety of staff, “which is always our number one priority”.