Body Shop's reputation slumps after sell-off
The reputation of Body Shop is starting to suffer as a result of its sale to French cosmetics giant L'Oreal, it emerged today.
Animal rights campaigners called for a boycott of the cosmetics chain after Body Shop founder Anita Roddick agreed to sell the company to the French firm for £652.3m (€940m).
Following the announcement last month, green campaigner Roddick rejected criticism that Body Shop was getting into bed with “the enemy” because L’Oreal has not abandoned animal testing.
She said the sale was a chance to strike a fairer deal for the world’s poor as L’Oreal wanted Body Shop to teach it about community trade.
However, a BrandIndex rating measured by YouGov, shows that Body Shop’s “buzz” rating and “satisfaction” scores have dropped significantly.
According to the daily BrandIndex, Body Shop’s “buzz” rating has dropped 10 points to -4 since the beginning of March, the public’s “general impression” of it is down three to 19 and “satisfaction” has slumped 11 points to 14.
The deal with L’Oreal has also angered campaigners because it is 26.4% owned by Nestle, one of the most boycotted companies in the world.
Mike Brady, co-ordinator at Baby Milk Action, which campaigns against Nestle’s marketing of baby foods and powdered baby milk in the developing world said: “This brand has been damaged, perhaps terminally, by linking to the world’s ’least responsible company’.
“As people abandon Body Shop for companies with higher ’ethical scores’ rather than put money in Nestle’s coffers, it is ethical business, their suppliers and employees who are the winners, as well as infants.”
Roddick borrowed £3,000 (€4,300) from friend Iain McGlinn to set up the first store in Brighton in England 30 years ago. Body Shop now has 2,000 stores in 54 countries.
Roddick and her husband Gordon will bank around £117.4m (€169.1m) from their 18% stake following the sale.
YouGov’s BrandIndex is a daily measure of public perception of more than 1,100 consumer brands across 32 sectors, taken from 2,000 interviews.
Body Shop declined to comment on sales.
