Dame Anita Roddick, DBE (23 October 1942 – 10 September 2007) was a British businesswoman, human rights activist and environmental campaigner, best known as the founder of The Body Shop, a cosmetics company producing and retailing beauty products that shaped ethical consumerism. The company was one of the first to prohibit the use of ingredients tested on animals and one of the first to promote fair trade with third world countries.Roddick was involved in activism and campaigning for environmental and social issues including involvement with Greenpeace and The Big Issue. In 1990, Roddick founded Children On The Edge, a charitable organization which helps disadvantaged children in Eastern Europe and Asia. Roddick was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis due to long-standing hepatitis C in 2004, and after she revealed this to the media in February 2007, she promoted the work of the Hepatitis C Trust, and campaigned to increase awareness of the disease.In 2003, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Roddick a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and she was officially styled Dame Anita Roddick DBE.
The Body Shop
There are many stories about the start of the company including how it opened next to an undertaker, who complained to the local council about the name of the store. The local bookmaker nearby took bets on how long it would be before The Body Shop closed. In response to this opposition, Roddick wrote a letter to the council stating that she was a housewife with children trying to make a living. The original logo and product labels were designed by an art student, Jeff Harris, who was paid £20.
The Body Shop has always had many controversies surrounding it, including several related to marketing campaigns the company has run such as the Ruby campaign. The company created a doll in the likeness of Barbie but with a lifelike voluptuous figure and luxuriant red hair, that came with the tag line, "There are 3 billion women who don't look like supermodels and only 8 who do". Mattel later sued the company for copyright infringement. The company stopped the campaign but by that time the word had got out and Roddick had made her point.
The Body Shop experienced rapid growth, expanding at a rate of 50 percent annually. Its stock was floated on London's Unlisted Securities Market in April 1984, opening at 95p. In January 1986, when it obtained a full listing on the London Stock Exchange, the stock was selling at 820p.
In 1996 The Body Shop launched another shopping channel. 'The Body Shop at Home.' Over 5000 Consultants work within the at home Service in the United Kingdom. Customers can book a Consultant at no charge to visit their home and demonstrate a range of Body Shop products.
In 1997, Anita Roddick launched a global campaign to raise self-esteem in women and start a campaign against the media stereotyping of women. The campaign focuses on unreasonably skinny models and the knock on effects of the waif in the context of rising numbers in bulimia and anorexia. The star of the campaign became world famous. Her name was Ruby, a real-life size 16 plastic doll that Mattel thought looked too much like Barbie. The strategic platform and global campaign production were developed with Host Universal, who went on to create an old-age Ruby for Body Shop Australia. Ruby was the last of Anita’s big campaigns.
The Body Shop has always had many controversies surrounding it, including several related to marketing campaigns the company has run such as the Ruby campaign. The company created a doll in the likeness of Barbie but with a lifelike voluptuous figure and luxuriant red hair, that came with the tag line, "There are 3 billion women who don't look like supermodels and only 8 who do". Mattel later sued the company for copyright infringement. The company stopped the campaign but by that time the word had got out and Roddick had made her point.
The Body Shop experienced rapid growth, expanding at a rate of 50 percent annually. Its stock was floated on London's Unlisted Securities Market in April 1984, opening at 95p. In January 1986, when it obtained a full listing on the London Stock Exchange, the stock was selling at 820p.
In 1996 The Body Shop launched another shopping channel. 'The Body Shop at Home.' Over 5000 Consultants work within the at home Service in the United Kingdom. Customers can book a Consultant at no charge to visit their home and demonstrate a range of Body Shop products.
In 1997, Anita Roddick launched a global campaign to raise self-esteem in women and start a campaign against the media stereotyping of women. The campaign focuses on unreasonably skinny models and the knock on effects of the waif in the context of rising numbers in bulimia and anorexia. The star of the campaign became world famous. Her name was Ruby, a real-life size 16 plastic doll that Mattel thought looked too much like Barbie. The strategic platform and global campaign production were developed with Host Universal, who went on to create an old-age Ruby for Body Shop Australia. Ruby was the last of Anita’s big campaigns.
The Body Shop Foundation
The Body Shop Foundation supports innovative global projects working in the areas of human and civil rights and environmental and animal protection. It is The Body Shop International Plc's charitable trust funded by annual donations from the company and through various fundraising initiatives.
The Body Shop Foundation was formed in 1990 to consolidate all the charitable donations made by the company. To date, The Body Shop Foundation has donated over £9.5 million sterling in grants. The Foundation regularly gives gift-in-kind support to various projects and organisations such as Children On The Edge (COTE)
Wikipedia
No comments:
Post a Comment