The Body Shop
33 Kern Road
Don Mills, Ontario
M3B 1S9
To whom it may concern,
Let me start first by saying that as an educated and caring consumer, my life was made a little easier by the advent of the Body Shop. “At least”, thought I, “there is one business that is concerned with the same social and ethical issues that I hold in such high regard.” Sadly, I have been proven wrong. I can scarcely convey to you my level of disappointment with your new “SALE help us get rid of the leftovers” campaign. I once considered The Body Shop to be something of a minor miracle, and I, its most staunch supporter. Now, confused as to what the Body Shop stands for ( if it stands for anything at all), I have been forced to shop there no more. I was shocked and outraged to see in one of your storefronts, a poster showing a carved turkey. I am at a loss. You were once a business of integrity and vision and now you hawk tortured animals as if you were a McDonalds restaurant. Let me assure you that (in my city and I‘m sure hundreds more) your good name has been seriously, perhaps irreparably compromised.
You claim to be an advocate of environmental causes. Yet your actions lead me to believe that you are unaware of the environmental impact of a meat-based diet. U.S based energy-intensive factory farms generated 1.4 billion tons of animal waste in 1996 alone. Environmental Protection Agency reports that this process pollutes waterways more than all other industrial sources combined. Meat production has also been linked to severe erosion of billions of acres of once-productive farmland and to the destruction of rainforests. There are, of course, hundreds of more reasons as to why a meat-based diet is in direct opposition to your company’s philosophy. I’m beginning to think that you are already aware of these reasons and have chosen to actively ignore them.
You once were an inspiration to me. I remember barely being able to fathom the notion of a multi-million dollar company being so bold as to fly in the face of the easy money to proclaim that “animals will not suffer for our products”. Now, I cannot fathom that the same company proclaims “but it’s acceptable for slain animals to be used for our advertising campaigns.”
I am baffled by the Body Shop’s new commitment to environmental irresponsibility and animal cruelty. I am baffled that it has turned on two of the very principles that made it more than just a store. There is no excuse for the abuse and there is no excuse for this level of hypocrisy. On your website, under the heading OUR VALUES, there is a quotation that reads:
“never doubt that a group of thoughtful and committed citizens can change the world, indeed it’s the only thing that ever does.”
This is a point well taken. Equally, I will add, that it takes but a group of thoughtless and reckless business owners to ensure that the status quo is maintained. I hope that consistency and compassion become higher priorities for your company in 2003.
Yours Sincerely
"Non-cooperation with evil is as much a responsibility as cooperation with good”-Ghandi
