San Francisco Mannequin Protest: Weird Demonstration Staged Outside Levi's

This article comes to us courtesy of SF Weekly.

By Coburn Palmer

So you think you've seen it all in San Francisco -- unapologetic naked people, a nice-looking dude in a towel walking down Market Street, and a bird that refuses to quit smoking? Well now you can add walking mannequins to that uncanny list.

No, Levi's mannequins aren't bitter about having to don those skintight hipster jeans or the skyrocketing prices of fashionable clothes. Like any good plastic mannequins, they're worried about the environmental mess Levi's makes when creating its stylish products.

Okay, so they aren't technically plastic -- more like Greenpeace protesters dressed as life-sized dummies. The group rallied outside Levi's flagship store in Union Square today demanding the popular jean corporation eliminate "all hazardous chemicals from its supply chain."

"These mannequins are fed up so they shed their clothes and headed for the exits to demand Levi's detox its clothing," said Greenpeace campaigner John Deans in a statement.

The group, which included 16 mannequins, says that is following up on a report released yesterday detailing water pollution in Mexico that can be traced to Levi's suppliers. Greenpeace claims that waste water from the denim-producing factories flooded Mexican rivers, producing a chemical foam that endangers the water supply for the nearby villages.

Contrary to what you might have expected, the protest worked.

Levi's responded by publishing an action plan, including a timeline to remove hazardous chemicals from its supply chain by 2020. The company has also reiterated its commitment to the Joint Roadmap toward Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals by 2020, of which it is a signatory member.

What's next -- teddy bears protesting leather?

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