Zappos built its reputation on customer service and a quirky, people-first culture. Amazon bought it in 2009, and while the brand still talks about independence, it is fully absorbed into Amazon’s retail machine. Every sale flows into Amazon’s system of worker exploitation, anti-union crackdowns, and aggressive market control. Buying from Zappos is just buying from Amazon in different packaging.
Amazon is rated High Impact because its harms are systemic and interlocking.
Environmental Harm: Delivery fleets, aviation cargo, and data centers generate massive emissions and plastic waste, while public pledges mask lobbying against climate regulation.
Human Rights Violations: Workers face surveillance, injury-level quotas, and unsafe delivery speeds. Migrant workers in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere face wage theft and coercion.
Military & Conflict Complicity: AWS is central to surveillance states. Project Nimbus embeds Amazon in Israel’s occupation and war crimes, supplying AI and data services to its military and government.
The result: consumer spending that powers a machine which entrenches inequality, accelerates climate collapse, and sustains state violence worldwide.