Harry Potter fans win fair-trade battle against Warner Bros. over chocolate

Warner Bros. to make all Harry Potter-branded chocolate fair-trade.

The fan-founded charity organization, the Harry Potter Alliance, has just won a 4-year long battle. Warner Bros. President Joshua Berger sent the Alliance a letter stating that by the end of 2015, all Harry Potter-branded chocolate will be fair-trade certified.

More from Entertainment

The movement began several years ago, when Harry Potter fans became aware that there might be a possibility that the chocolate products, such as the popular Chocolate Frogs sold at Universal Studios Orlando, were being made through unethical means. Believing that the characters in the popular book series wouldn’t stand for child labor or unfair pay, The Harry Potter Alliance quickly launched the campaign, Not In Harry’s Name, with a petition and flash mob in New York City on the night of the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One in 2010. Over the next few years, fans continued to fight for the campaign in a variety of creative ways, from participating in live streams and sending letters and videos to Warner Bros, to people even making their own fair-trade Chocolate Frogs to prove that it could be done. In 2013, the Harry Potter Alliance took things one step further teamed up in their efforts with Walk Free, an organization with the aim of ending modern slavery.

The fans continued to spread the word both online and off, and the movement quickly grew to receive more widespread attention. They gained the support of actors such as Jason Isaacs and Evanna Lynch of the Harry Potter films, author John Green, as well as eventually garnering the support of J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, in 2014. Rowling completely agreed with the Alliance, and pushed for Warner Bros. to commit to a resolution by the end of that year. Her vocal support of the campaign may have been a turning point, as within a week after that, both the Harry Potter Alliance and Walk Free were invited to meet up with Warner Bros. in person, where they delivered the petition– then at a whopping over 400,000 signatures.

Then, on the 22nd of December 2014, the Harry Potter Alliance finally achieved a victory when they received a letter from the President of Warner Bros:

"By the end of 2015, and sooner when possible, all Harry Potter chocolate products sold at Warner Bros. outlets and through our licensed partners will be 100-percent Utz or Fairtrade certified."

This kind of success for fans against such a large company was previously unheard of, and sends a great feeling of empowerment to passionate fans everywhere fighting for a good cause– or, as the Harry Potter Alliance likes to call them, ‘fan activists’. That’s a term that just may start catching on.

Take a look below to see the compilation video the Harry Potter Alliance has put together, chronicling the 4-year journey and victory of the Not In Harry’s Name campaign:

More from FanSided

Home/Entertainment