“Harry Potter” fans call Out Warner Bros. on their F grade on human rights

by · January 17, 2013

The Harry Potter Alliance (HPA) is escalating their concern regarding Warner Bros. relationship to child slavery and serious violations of human rights. On their new website, showusthereport.com, the HPA is calling on Warner Bros. to stop hiding a report regarding the cocoa sourcing for Harry Potter chocolate.

In spring 2011, the HPA presented Warner Bros. CEO Barry Meyer with:

  • a report by renowned human rights watchdog Free2Work giving their Harry Potter chocolate an F in human rights
  • evidence that child slavery in the Ivory Coast went into the sourcing of Harry Potter cocoa
  • over 16,000 signatures by teenage HP fans asking that all Harry Potter chocolate become fair trade

In response to the F in human rights, Warner Bros. told the HPA that they had conducted an internal report, proving that Harry Potter cocoa met their ethical sourcing guidelines. However, Warner Bros. refused to show the report to the HPA or give any reason why they would hide it.

Showusthereport.com unites Harry Potter fans, Internet celebrities, and nerds of all stripes to ask Warner Bros. for full transparency. Inspired by Harry Potter‘s refusal to allow a short-sighted Ministry of Magic to co-opt his name, Harry Potter fans are similarly standing up to Warner Brothers. “We are prepared to use every facet of our network to stand up for transparency,” says Slack. “Preventing us from seeing this report discourages young people from becoming engaged citizens. It’s not healthy for democracy, our country, or our world.”

The relationship between Warner Bros. and the HPA has not always been so contentious. In fall 2010, Warner Bros. CEO Barry Meyer applauded the Harry Potter Alliance for their commitment to social responsibility and their support of those in need.

“This is not about hurting Warner Bros. or their business,” says Slack. “Our only enemy here is and remains child slavery. As consumers of these products and as fans of Harry Potter, we have a right to see this report.”

If you would like to demand transparency in this campaign, head on over to the Harry Potter Alliance website and join in the campaign “Not in Harry’s Name.” You can be a member of Dumbledore’s Army by getting involved and making the effort to better our world just as Harry made the wizarding world a better place to live.

In the words of J.K. Rowling, “We do not need magic to change the world; we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”