My social media channels were turned upside down Tuesday night when a photo surfaced of a John Deere clothing tag. The tag, which was attached to a John Deere infant outfit, was purchased by Caleigh Elizabeth Wright and her husband during a trip to Germany in December of 2015. The couple took part in a tour of the country’s agriculture sector, which included a stop to the John Deere plant where forage harvesters and combines are made. While in the gift shop, Caleigh decided to purchase the onesie in preparation for the arrival of the couple’s first child. It wasn’t until Caleigh got back to the United States and went to wash the garment that she noticed the tag and posted about it on Facebook.
But Wait, What’s Wrong With That?
I briefly want to address an issue here. Among the social media posts and sharing of this image, many of people have asked why conventional farmers are upset by this message. Is it really so wrong for John Deere to support organic agriculture?
Of course not!
I support farmers and consumers having choices, including the ability to choose which agricultural production methods they want to support. The caveat is that I want those choices to be informed choices and based on reality, not marketing gimmicks. I also do not support organic marketing that makes conventional farmers sound like the spawn of Satan. That’s precisely the problem here!
This tag suggests, not so subtly, that conventional farmers are wrecking havoc on the environment and our families. But that’s not the truth. Conventional farmers are subject to strict government regulations. Conventional farmers care for and want to protect rivers and groundwater. Conventional farmers rely on and work to maintain soil fertility. Conventional farmers choose production methods that will keep our families (and yours) safe! Genetically modified cotton is just as safe as non-GMO cotton and does not destroy the environment or farm families.
Being environmentally-friendly is not exclusive to organic farmers!
Oh, and organic farmers use pesticides, too.
An Explanation, Please
I was pretty enraged upset by this tag and the message that John Deere was supporting. After all, our family has a lot of green equipment in our barns! I wanted a comment directly from the company on this topic, hoping they had a good explanation for this. So, I sent them the following message:
My family are farmers in Southwest Michigan where we grow GMO corn and soybeans. We mostly farm using John Deere equipment. I also share our farming story and support for modern agriculture on my blog at TheFarmersDaughterUSA.com.
I am wondering if you can please explain this tag that recently surfaced from one of your products? You can find the link here.
I support food and farming choices. I respect whatever agricultural production methods farmers and consumers want to support, but I cannot believe that you would allow your brand to be sold with this type of statement. Lots of conventional and GMO farmers spend lots of money on your equipment and yet you’ve allowed a tag that attacks our production methods.
I would love to get a response to this product tag and hear your side of the story.
I received a response the next afternoon. It said:
Hi Amanda –
Thank you for your email. John Deere-branded merchandise is made by suppliers that are not owned or managed by Deere. Information contained on a branded merchandise tag concerning cotton production reflects the opinion of the vendor and not the official position of John Deere.
Deere serves customers who use a variety of cotton production methods and Deere does not take a position on which is the most suitable method. We will be reviewing how best to clarify what company is making any statement on a merchandise tag that carries the John Deere trademark.
Again, we appreciate your time and please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns.
Have a great day,
That’s Not Enough
It is not acceptable for an internationally recognized company to license out its logo and brand and then turn a blind eye to what that vendor is doing with it. If your brand or logo is put on a product, then you are endorsing that product. You are allowing your brand to support whatever message or statement is being made with that product. If you want to pretend that you do not support a certain production method or made decisions on which type of agriculture is better, then you better not let your logo be used to help sell that message.
The only reason John Deere allowed such a description to show up next to its label is because it knew that would help sell the product. Imagine if one of John Deere’s vendors decided to throw the John Deere label onto a shirt with a a swastika. I doubt the company would twiddle its thumbs and pretend it didn’t know about it. I’m sure that the product would be pulled from store shelves immediately.
But John Deere doesn’t have a problem with throwing its farming customers under the bus to sell clothing. Conventional farmers spend millions of dollars each year purchasing their equipment, products, and merchandise. The very least John Deere could do is see to it that licensees of their logo and brand are not alienating or attacking their primary customer base, especially for such an insignificant product.
I’m disappointed that John Deere couldn’t come up with a better answer.
Bottom line: John Deere allowed it. They need to own it. Don’t make excuses. Don’t pass the buck.
[UPDATE 5/20/16: I got a second response from John Deere, which you can read here.]
You received a standard blah, blah, blah, answer perhaps done before upper management even became aware. I have posted on their FB page and mentioned the name of one of their engineers that I graduated from Mattawan with. I assume many others have done similarly. Hopefully the answer will be “upgraded”
Yes, it was a standard answer that many have gotten, albeit in different variations. I doubt anyone is going to get a different answer regardless of who they know.
Sorry to learn that the John Deere company failed to act to stop the other company from using the John Deere logo inappropriately. Unfortunately big companies seldom respond unless it relates to $$$. In this case the ill-informed tag must have an impact on their $$ bottom line. Maybe the farming community can influence the John Deere bottom line?
“Deere does not take a position on which is the most suitable method. ”
Um, yes you did John Deere. The inability to do basic logic is disturbing.
I think this slipped just below Deere’s sight. I would be surprised that conformity to Deere’s policies is not included in the license agreement. Especially with statements like this on their branded clothing. Or that someone in purchasing overlooked or approved by accident the use of the marks. I wonder if they have since removed them at their store in downtown Moline? They literally have volumes on controlling their marks corporate wide (logo’s, colors, etc.). Image is everything to Deere. And it is an expectation we have.
I think you’re correct, they will have to better control the message of their vendors, since they shouldn’t allow through John Deere merchandise portray a message that in fact is demonizing a farming method that they think is prudent, as any other.
Its simple market segmentation. Tell the US farmers one thing and the Germans another. And forget that someone might actually take a trip to the other side.
I’m sorry but you got your feathers all ruffled for nothing more then a marketing gimmick to make John Deere look good in a consumers eye. Isn’t this what the “farmers daughter” did as well, trying to sell her idea of American farmers to the consumer by having an online blog????
What the tag states is correct, and organic farmers might have a better quality of life, but yet you fail to see the idea that organic farming has ts good merits and choose to destroy, not directly but by making a point out of a marketing gimmick in a foreign country??
I’m a conventional farmer, I use GMO’s and everything you most likely do but I also know that agriculture as a whole can do better, I also know that both Conventional and Organic farmers do have one thing in common, we are both farmers,
This is the problem. People like you think that these marketing gimmicks are absolutely no problem. No big deal. What difference does it make if companies lie about conventional farming (and yes, they are lying about conventional farming…). Who cares if they say bad things about conventional farmers? What difference does it make if they sell the public a negative image of us?
Apparently you haven’t seen the extent of the anti-GMO movement. Apparently you don’t understand that people are trying to destroy your farm. Apparently you don’t understand that they want to put us out of business. Well, I have. I understand that these messages are dangerous and they will not be content with simply selling a couple products.
The problem is, no matter what advantages you think organic farming has, it cannot and will never be able to match our yields and produce the food supply necessary to meet world demand. If these people succeed, I wonder which individuals will get to eat and which won’t?
Get your head out of the sand and wake up to this reality – they mean to destroy you and cut our food supply. If that doesn’t upset you and make you want to do something, then I’m not sure what’s wrong with you.
John Deere made it right and fixed the problem. They recognized that this was not acceptable and changed it.