This is personal post from me, The Editor, regarding rude corporate behavior on the Amagansett beaches.
On June 2nd a Ralph Lauren cologne related entity setup for a photo shoot on an Amagansett beach. On this same beach there also happened to be 6 pairs of Piping Plovers nesting.
Piping Plovers are a protected species. There are fences around their nesting areas, fireworks are canceled and rescheduled to avoid bothering them. Ralph Lauren proceeded to setup extremely close to the birds' nesting areas with a large tent structure.
Worse than that though, six Land Rovers were seen speeding up and down the beach. Newspaper articles quote that they were doing 50 miles per hour.
Irregardless of whether they really were going 50, the speed limit on the beaches is 15 miles per hour.
There was also a lack of required permits- no permit for the beach and no permit for filming. They did have a fire permit for the tent. (Source: East Hampton Star)
To top it off, there are now apparently only three pairs left. The aggressive driving and tent structures scared off the other three.
Locals are upset, the Town Trustees want action taken against Ralph Lauren. The federal and state officials don't seem to want to do ANYTHING.
Even if the state and federal governments don't do a thing, Ralph Lauren should repent and give a sizable donation to one of the many nature preservation organizations on the East End.
If you want send an email to their customer service department and let them know your thoughts - CustomerAssistance@RalphLauren.com
- The Editor
Whenever my family and I walk the beach in Montauk and cross piping plover nesting sites, I take time out to show the kids the signs and explain why we must tread carefully and try not to frighten the birds. What callous, ignorant and indifferent behavior displayed by the RL people, especially when their company image is that of outdoorsy sophistication. Just goes to show image is just that, image, and the only thing taken into consideration is the bottom line and the almighty dollar. I'll think of this story the next time I see ads of RL sitting on his horse in the mountains or lovely, leggy couple w/towhead kids on the beach and reconsider whether I really want to reek of RL product.
ReplyDeleteEditor -
ReplyDeleteI must say I absolutely love this site. Thank you for taking the time to compile the postings.
However, before you make your next posting as 'The Editor' I wanted to politely point out that "irregardless" is not a word.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irregardless
Again, just trying to be polite...feel free to ignore this!
Point well taken. I may call myself the editor, but it's not my professional background.
ReplyDeleteThe Editor