Lush is becoming anti-social, Company Statement
Like so many teenagers have experienced before us, Lush has tried to come off social media, but our FOMO is vast, and our compulsion to use the various platforms means we find ourselves back on there, despite our best intentions.
So here we are again, trying to go cold (plant-based) turkey.
This time, our resolve is strengthened by all the latest information from courageous whistleblowers, which clearly lays out the known harms that young people are exposed to because of the current algorithms and loose regulation of this new area of our lives.
Bullying, fake news, extremist viewpoints, FOMO, phantom vibrations, manipulative algorithms; an endlessly scrolling stream, leading, we are told, to massively increasing rates of youth suicides, depression, anxiety.
As an inventor of bath bombs, I pour all my efforts into creating products that help people switch off, relax and pay attention to their wellbeing. Social media platforms have become the antithesis of this aim, with algorithms designed to keep people scrolling and stop them from switching off and relaxing.
We wouldn’t ask our customers to meet us down a dark and dangerous alleyway – but some social media platforms are beginning to feel like places no one should be encouraged to go. Something has to change. We hope that platforms will introduce strong best practice guidelines, and we hope that international regulation will be passed into law. But we can’t wait. We feel forced to take our own action to shield our customers from the harm and manipulation they may experience whilst trying to connect with us on social media.
From 26th November 2021 we will be signing out from Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Whatsapp and TikTok, until these platforms can provide a safer environment for their users.
I’ve spent all my life avoiding putting harmful ingredients in my products. There is now overwhelming evidence we are being put at risk when using social media. I’m not willing to expose my customers to this harm, so it’s time to take it out of the mix.
Lush promises not to be completely anti-social. We will do all we can to find new ways to connect, to build better channels of communication elsewhere, as well as using the older tried and tested routes. For now we can still be found on YouTube daily – no need to Click Like, Subscribe or Get Notifications, people can just pop along to check us out when they fancy.
We’ve always got a lot to say, but when we climb onto a soapbox we like it to be safe.
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