I was recently sent an invite to join a group on facebook, encouraging me to boycott the Body Shop for ethical reasons. I have to admit that I was a little confused at this point. The Body Shop is the most ethically-based company that I can think of. So I did a little research and came up with some disturbing results. It turns out that The Body Shop was bought out by l'Oreal in 2006.
If Anita Roddick, the founder of The Body Shop, were still alive today I would love to ask her why she sold her company to one whose values so clearly clash with her own. First and foremost, The Body Shop is against animal testing. Period. The company was founded with the belief that animals shouldn't be subjected to testing for the development of beauty products. Roddick also believed that the beauty industry put too much emphasis on being perfect and that the industry should instead focus on enhancing the natural beauty of women.
Where are those values now? The Body Shop's site still preaches that animal testing isn't condoned by The Body Shop, but its parent company still uses it so how can this be? The severe clashing of brand values brought Anita Roddick under fire after the selling of her company but it didn't seem to make a difference. The sale still went on and despite initial protests, the sales for The Body Shop are close to their pre-sale values.
I guess you could say that selling her company was a smart move money wise on Roddick's part, but was it worth it when you take into account the damage that it caused to the brand, was it really?
If Anita Roddick, the founder of The Body Shop, were still alive today I would love to ask her why she sold her company to one whose values so clearly clash with her own. First and foremost, The Body Shop is against animal testing. Period. The company was founded with the belief that animals shouldn't be subjected to testing for the development of beauty products. Roddick also believed that the beauty industry put too much emphasis on being perfect and that the industry should instead focus on enhancing the natural beauty of women.
Where are those values now? The Body Shop's site still preaches that animal testing isn't condoned by The Body Shop, but its parent company still uses it so how can this be? The severe clashing of brand values brought Anita Roddick under fire after the selling of her company but it didn't seem to make a difference. The sale still went on and despite initial protests, the sales for The Body Shop are close to their pre-sale values.
I guess you could say that selling her company was a smart move money wise on Roddick's part, but was it worth it when you take into account the damage that it caused to the brand, was it really?
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