Buy a pair of shoes and another pair will be donated to a child in a third world country. Buy a latte and a percentage of that purchase will be donated to help end AIDS. The famous buy and give sales model takes “smart shopping” to the next level, giving consumers a reason to feel good about their materialistic purchases.

Back in 2010, TOMS, a for-profit company that sells shoes was all the rage. They presented this business model where if you buy a pair of $60 shoes that last like a $5 pair, TOMS will donate a pair of shoes to a child in need somewhere in the world. They were featured in an AT&T ad that filmed one of their product drops in Uruguay.

And it appealed to everyone’s inner humanitarian. You could not go out into the world without seeing the TOMS logo. But, how great is that? Giving a child the gift of shoes because a pair of shoes that’ll wear thin within a month will surely end poverty, the clean water crisis and unemployment problems in these developing countries! If anything, the buy and give business model made popular by TOMS, hurts the local economy they deliver the shoes to by wounding businesses of local venders, shoe makers and cobblers. In fact, a 2008 study found that clothing donations was responsible for at least a 50% reduction in employment in the textile production industry between 1981 and 2000 in Africa.

It also raises the question: does giving shoes to these children result in any kind of life changing impact? Professor Bruce Wydick from University of San Francisco took a trip to El Salvador where TOMS makes frequent shoe donations to and examined the impact these shoes made. Unfortunately he did not find any correlation between these donated shoes and a movement towards a better life, there was not an increase in school attendance, grades or even social interactions.

Since TOMS’ launch, they have expanded their humanitarian business model to include the gift of sight, water and even safe birth with a simple purchase. However, TOMS is not the only company who presents this buy one give one business model. In fact, there seems to be a rise with companies and their attempt to save children in third world countries, animals and the Earth.

Ivory Ella, is a company that seems to have gotten its start on social media sites like Twitter and Tumblr. The company sells clothing with their signature elephant logo, promising to give 10% of their proceeds to http://savetheelephants.org/. Lokai, a bracelet company that creates plastic beaded bracelets infused with elements from the highest and lowest points on earth, the black ball carrying mud from the Dead Sea and the white ball containing water from Mt. Everest. This company also promises to give 10% of their net profits to a variety of charities.

There’s no doubt the buy one give one model is working for these companies as well as many others. Yet, validity of these companies are definitely questionable, its impossible to tell which companies are donating to legitimate charities without spending hours on research. However, it just seems like a hype that everyone is hopping onto because they want to feel good about their materialistic purchases.