I’ve long admired the sheer audacity of The Body Shop, for what I call its ‘success by suggestion’ marketing tactics. The entire brand is built on a fuzzy, wishy-washy notion that international, large-scale capitalism can have a heart. It’s also built on the idea that its products are somehow ‘natural’, ethically-sound and good for you. The fact that The Body Shop has managed to do this with such great success demonstrates some really important truths about us humans, and how those determined to take advantage of us really don’t have to try that hard.
Exhibit A, m’lud: The Spa Wisdom™ Morocco Argan Oil & Orange Blossom Body Souffle. Sounds exotic, enticing, natural, wonderful. Yes, it does, until you take the trouble to invert the container and read the ingredients. Take a deep breath, ’cause here we go:
Water (Solvent/Diluent), C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate (Emulsifier), PEG-8 (Humectant), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (Emollient), Glycerin (Humectant), Steareth-2 (Emulsifier), Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil (Skin-Conditioning Agent), Fragrance (Fragrance), Phenethyl Alcohol (Fragrance Ingredient), Steareth-21 (Emulsifier), Caprylyl Glycol (Skin Conditioning Agent), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) (Skin-Conditioning Agent/Emollient), Carbomer (Stabiliser/Viscosity Modifier), Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter (Emollient), Propylene Glycol (Humectant), Sodium Hydroxide (pH Adjuster), Linalool (Fragrance Ingredient), Limonene (Fragrance Ingredient), Disodium EDTA (Chelating Agent), Benzophenone-2 (Light Absorber), Butylphenyl Methylpropional (Fragrance Ingredient), Benzyl Salicylate (Fragrance Ingredient), Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Flower Extract (Natural Extract), Sorbitol (Humectant), Citronellol (Fragrance Ingredient), Hydroxycitronellal (Fragrance Ingredient), Hexyl Cinnamal (Fragrance Ingredient), Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone (Fragrance Ingredient), Farnesol (Fragrance Ingredient), Geraniol (Fragrance Ingredient), Yellow 6 (Colour).
This list, for the most part, sounds like an accident at Chernobyl. It doesn’t sound very ‘Morroccan’ at all (whatever that is supposed to sound like). Certainly not very natural, and exotic only in the sense that few of these substances can actually be found in nature. Unfortunately, too many people seem to think that seeing a pretty, ethnic design, and seeing the word wisdom on the jar is sufficient to determine provenance and verify quality. This jar contains the wisdom of the ages, that’s for sure, at least in terms of man’s eternal ability to hoodwink man. This was literally the first product I clicked on at the website, the thousands of others are just the same.
I quizzed a member of The Body Shop staff a couple of weeks ago about something written on each product: ‘Against animal testing’. Now, I could be accused of being a little cynical at times – in my experience it often saves time and disappointment, at least where certain things are concerned. One of those things is marketing. When such vast amounts of money are at stake, it is imperative that the marketing suggests (but not actually commits to) that which the product often doesn’t actually deliver, but which the consumer would like to have for their hard-earned buck. So my suspicions were aroused when this statement didn’t actually seem to state, categorically, that the product wasn’t tested on animals, just that the company was against it. Clearly, one can be against something that one is ‘forced’ to do, for whatever reason. Indeed, while researching this article, I found this in an Independent article of 2007: “In 1989 the West German government successfully sued Body Shop’s German subsidiary for misleading advertising, after which it swapped its ‘not tested on animals’ label for the vaguer ‘against animal testing’”- a quote which really cheers me in that the soppy, non-committal wording was still transparent to me, despite the huge salaries of those paid to concoct it.
The member of staff I spoke to was, nevertheless, clear in her belief that the company engages in no animal testing and this seems to be reinforced on the company’s website. But wait, the wording on this page says: “…we insist that all our suppliers have not tested their ingredients on animals for cosmetic purposes”. This suggests that they are tested on animals for reasons other than cosmetic purposes. What is a ‘cosmetic purpose’? Is it different than a safety purpose? It also goes on to say:
We also fund organisations that campaign for increased research into animal testing alternatives. Our parent company L’Oréal has made a significant contribution in this area and has pioneered the research and development of EpiSkin – artificially grown human skin for use in skin irritancy tests – and this revolutionary approach to testing is now used by The Body Shop wherever possible.
So, the renowned animal-testing company, L’Oreal, is now trying to get in on the act (which was obviously the idea of buying it from Anita Roddick in the first place), to get its name mentioned in an ethical context, even though it has never baulked at the idea of testing anything on animals, or buying anything from anywhere. Still, you may also notice in the above wording that that The Body Shop only commits to using Episkin ‘wherever possible’ – a disclaimer which could mean, quite literally, NEVER.
The choice of words is never accidental, huge teams of wealthy lawyers see to that. They work out what is defensible in court, or actionable, and then get every milligram of perception value out of it – such is the grim facade of ethical trading that the multinational has constructed.
My last beef with The Body Shop (there are many others, but you may want to get some dinner at some point, or even have work to go to) is a classic piece of feelgood marketing bollock-speak. May I introduce you to the world of ‘Community Trade’, which The Body Shop ‘supports’. In the interests of brevity (perhaps now a vain hope) I shall quote a passage from The Body Shop’s website and put the naughty, tricky, corporately legal, substance-free, buzz-phrases in bold and leave you to work out where the bullshit might lie, enjoy:
In 1987, The Body Shop launched Community Trade. One of the first examples of fair trade, Community Trade has numerous benefits for our company, our customers and our suppliers. Through our long term trading relationships, we do more than give a fair price. We offer our suppliers a predictable and regular income for their family and the security and confidence to develop their own businesses. In turn we can access some of nature’s finest ingredients, which are grown and harvested by expert local farmers, and our accessories are made using time-honoured techniques, helping to preserve a traditional way of life.
Wherever possible, we seek to use Community Trade ingredients in our products. Over the last two years, spending on Community Trade ingredients, gifts and accessories has risen from £6.4m to £7.4m. In the process, Community Trade allows our suppliers to build better futures for themselves and their communities. Today our programme benefits over 25,000 people in 22 countries worldwide, who supply us with 21 of our naturally derived ingredients and over 50 different gifts and accessories.
By 2010, we aim to use wood from responsibly managed sources, certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), wherever possible.
Tags: animal rights, Anita Roddick, capitalism, cosmetics, environmentalism, ethics, L'Oreal, marketing, The Body Shop
