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Social activism
From early on, The Body Shop reflected the activism of its founder through posters on shop windows and sponsorship of local charity and community events. Roddick criticized what she considered the environmental insensitivity of the industry and traditional views of beauty, and aimed to change standard corporate practices[8] Roddick said: "For me, campaigning and good business is also about putting forward solutions, not just opposing destructive practices or human rights abuses".
In 1986, The Body Shop formed an alliance with Greenpeace, campaigning to "Save the Whales", despite some concerns among franchisees that the head office was becoming too political. By 1990 Roddick had switched allegiances to Friends of the Earth, following disagreements with Greenpeace.
The Body Shop also promotes values such as Community Trade,reflecting its avowed practice of trading with communities in need and giving them a fair price for natural ingredients or handcrafts they purchase from these often marginalized countries. The first CT activity in 1986 was a footsie roller which was supplied by a small community in Southern India (today known as Teddy Exports) and still a key CT supplier.Since then, The Body Shop has found many trade partners in over 24 different countries that often are overlooked by the local as well as the global society. Criticisms have been made of the programme, however, by fair trade activists. "The company's prominently displayed claims to pay fairer prices to the Third World poor covered less than a fraction of 1 per cent of its turnover", wrote Paul Vallely, the former chair of Traidcraft, in the obituary of Anita Roddick published in The Independent on 12 September 2007. |
