I’ve been reading quite a few pieces and obituaries about Anita Roddick, the maverick founder of retail chain The Body Shop. She died this week aged 64 of a brain haemorrhage. It seems to me that many people were surprised by her death. I’ve been struck by, and deeply moved by the outpourings of admiration from some of the most impressive people one could hope to know, all of whom are writing of their profound respect for a woman who, at the most basic level, sold soaps, moisturisers and shampoos. She hadn’t been in the news quite as much of late as she once was, but her presence in the UK and world retail conscience was undiminished because the activities of The Body Shop continued to push the ideals that she had always espoused. She was a colourful figure through her determination that one doesn’t have to sacrifice moral standpoints to be a successful businessperson. Her campaigning and her use of The Body Shop as a campaign tool has meant we as a society have recognised and adopted causes never before addressed.
When she began her store the western world was largely indifferent to or unaware of the causes of rainforest destruction, cosmetics animal testing, third-world exploitation, fairtrade and the homeless. Besides making money, her business served as one of the greatest political billboards the world has ever known, broadcasting its views based on our collective moral responsibility. Who, at the time, would have thought that a shop window could be so much more effective and persuasive than the pulpit or the stage? What religious leaders and green-politicians have been so long been trying to emphasize, The Body Shop’s marketing gurus were able to push home through the small-print of millions upon millions of product labels. The value of her campaigning, and the degree to which the Body Shop ethos has been adopted by popular culture is shown by the chain’s 2006 sale to L’Oreal. Being an ethical consumer is now equated with being a good consumer and citizen rather than being equated with being a radical lefty. Now, everyone understands the necessity of fair trade and care for the environment. As Alice Miles put it in The Times yesterday, ‘She was using moisturiser to talk about human rights, and animal testing, and the environment. Moisturiser wasn’t just a cream, it was politics… and it was big business.’.
May we only hope we can live up to her achievements and, in our lifetimes, work for similarly virtuous goals.
Dame Anita Roddick, entrepreneur and activist, born October 23 1942; died September 10 2007. RIP
Independent: Obituary: Dame Anita Roddick
Independent: Anita Roddick, capitalist with a conscience, dies at 64
NYT: Anita Roddick, Body Shop Founder, Dies at 64
GU: Roddick’s legacy: idealism and the smell of dewberries
GU: Anita Roddick, pioneer whose dreams turned the high street green, dies at 64
GU: Obituary: Dame Anita Roddick
GU Comment is Free: Adieu, Dame Anita
GU Comment is Free: One of Anita Roddick’s greatest achievements was recognising that beauty is an ugly business
Times Online: Anita Roddick’s ruse: it wasn’t the moisturiser after all
