Lush Goes Naked to Protest Packaging
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin 
on 07.14.07
"Cheeky!" "No ifs just butts" "Baring a Message" This week, Lush staff went naked to get the message out: packaging is waste. As employee Wendy Reiding of Wimbledon points out, "the main bits were covered." Staff wore a white apron with the words "Ask me why I'm naked" as they plied the streets drawing stares and in some cases being shooed back inside by the local constabulary.
Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics has made waves in innovative marketing before, but this week they set a new standard in drawing headlines without spending a single cent on advertising. OK, points given for a good message, cleverly delivered.
But the campaign does leave questions open: for example, why hand out leaflets in a campaign against waste? And is naked the new marketing trend?
Lush has drawn critique from TreeHugger readers for their choices of "safe synthetic" chemicals in their formulations. Also, Lush offers packaging-free solid soaps as a consumer alternative; they offer traditional liquid products in bottles in their product palette as well. (Hence the need for a campaign against packaging: don't buy our packaged products?)
Nonetheless, Lush has differentiated themselves from the market trend towards liquid soaps, formulating many products into bars, cakes or balls which can be sold without packaging. Some products are cut from a large cake and sold by weight. They even sell massage oils as bars which need to be warmed by rubbing in the hands to release the lubricating essences they contain. So, leaving debate aside, we hope the naked Lush campaign will spread the word: beauty products without packaging are beautiful.
via ::Scotsman
image via Cambridge News
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I understand the point about handing out the flyers but they are quite informative about packaging (i.e. waste) on cosmetic products.
There were some interesting facts in the flyer that I'm sure would raise awareness about waste that average joe would probably never have considered
==auth. note==
That is good news. So you were there first hand? I am certain our readers would enjoy if you could report some of the interesting facts...
what constitutes "sans packaging" here? Yeah, Lush stuff isn't pre-packaged, but you have to wrap it in paper or slip it into a plastic bag(!) to keep it from melting all over you on your way home.
Lush are launching the tins that can be used for body butters,massage bars and larger cuts of soap next month.
If you use the little bag that they put it in,the clear one with the Lush logo,till it just gets ick then you are making a difference.
Every little bit counts.
A bag is not nearly as harmfull as the Parabens that get washed down the drain from their products...
People can complain about every little detail of a company until they are blue in the face, that does not change the fact that LUSH is taking a STEP FORWARD in the green retail industry. YES they use parabens (but not because they are forced to, because they choose to), but they have revolutionized the Against Animal Testing Policy in a huge chunk of industries. and still buys fair trade.
Yes most of their products are naked, and some are bottled, have you looked at the ingerdients in the bottled products? There are very little synthetics in them. AND the bags and bottle are made from the most common recyclable plastic (making them recyclable in most areas)
There are very few companies that make products with so little synthetics.
Why be no negative? Why nit pick? Why not embrace the fact that there is a global company that is promoting so many good values, and getting their message across to a large number of people, that might not think about buying green?
I say that LUSH is a pretty damn good company, that is getting some great attention!
I have to agree with Rachelle on this one! As a company LUSH Cosmetics does an amazing job with using fair trade products, organic ingredients and not testing on animals.
Here are some facts about LUSH products
-LUSH products are 100% vegetarian, 74% vegan, and 58% are unpackaged.
LUSH is a company with ethics!
Naked Soapworks issues Cease and Desist Demand to Lush Canada
Vancouver, B.C., August 17, 2007 – Naked Soapworks® today announced that it has informed Lush Handmade Cosmetics Ltd. of its Canadian trade-mark rights to the NAKED™ and GET NAKED™ trade-marks, and has demanded that Lush cease using Naked Soapworks® trade-marks as part of Lush’s recent “Get Naked” campaign.
Naked Soapworks® is based in Bowen Island, B.C. where it manufactures hand-crafted natural bath and body products. Naked Soapworks® products have been distributed through retail stores across Canada since 2002 in association with its NAKED™ trade-mark and its own GET NAKED™ promotional campaigns.
Despite all appearances from Lush’s current website and promotional materials, Lush is not affiliated with Naked Soapworks® and does not supply NAKED™ products.
Although Naked Soapworks® and it's owner, Laurel Bailey, agree with Lush’s message to buy products that are minimally packaged (or not packaged at all, like all NAKED™ soaps), Lush’s current campaign infringes Naked Soapworks® intellectual property rights and is creating confusion in the marketplace. The NAKED™ product line has used the slogan “Get Naked” for numerous advertising campaigns and correspondence. More information about NAKED™ products is available at www.nakedsoapworks.com.
for more press:
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=d1fa1754-ed4b-481d-a5fd-c0138cc67a0b
http://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/news/ng.asp?n=79199-lush-packaging
Laurel, you are joking, right? You trademarked the name "Naked"! ?
Hahahaha, funniest thing I heard in a long time. Good luck getting a judge to rule on your case without the entire court breaking out in laughter.
Good on Lush for a great campaign.
So it's okay for these people to degrade themselves to make a point. Everyone needs to take a breath, step back and take control of themselves. Women are constantly portrayed as sex objects in the media, in magazines, on billboards, at Hooters, in Playboy...everywhere you look. It's about time someone puts an end to all of this craziness!
I have found Magic Tree to be equally, if not better, than Lush. Their range of bath salts, moisturizers and body wash are just fantastic. You really have to see them. I bought a few for my girlfriend and she absolutely loved them.
you can visit them at magictreebeauty.com