Ch. 3 - Ethics & Social Responsibility

     Lush Cosmetics states on their website; “We know not everyone wants "politics in their bath water", but we feel privileged to be in a position where we have the resources to help those who work tirelessly and selflessly for equality, peace and justice for all. We hope that you will continue to support us as we support them." This leads me to believe that Lush Cosmetics practices the highest level of morality as described in "Chapter 3 - Ethics and Social Responsibility. Chapter 3 of MKTG credited to Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel, breaks down breaks moral development into three tiers; The first being precovential morality, a business practice that is almost childlike where companies make decisions based on how their company will immediately be punished or rewarded. The second tier is conventional morality. This level of morality is assigned to companies who only uphold a benevolent conduct in order to keep their following- basically, they practice good business ethics as a marketing strategy in order to not displease any customers. The third and highest level of moral development is postconventional morality which is a company that is less concerned about how customer's might perceive their acts of morality, but more concerned about how business decisions might affect the environment or others in the long run. I truly believe that Lush Cosmetics is a company of the highest degree of moral decency because of Lush's stance against animal testing, Lush's "naked" packaging, and Lush's product called Charity Pot.

The reenactment of the horrors of animal testing
performed in a Lush location.

      Lush Cosmetics' stance against the cruelty of animal testing and using animals for cosmetics is a clear indication that Lush upholds the highest level of morality: postconventional morality. Lush Cosmetics had adopted its non-animal testing policy before Lush even existed. The policy was put into effect under Lush's previous incarnation, "Cosmetic To Go," in 1991. The co-founders of Lush had spent their lives fighting against the monstrosity of animal cruelty and felt it natural to ban all animal testing in their company. The policy was put in place clearly for personal beliefs and not as a business tactic, which makes Lush Cosmetics incredibly noble. What emphasizes the theory that Lush Cosmetics is upholds its policy for ethical reasons rather than a marketing tactic is the fact that Lush Cosmetics would undoubtedly make a larger profit without its non-animal testing policy. Lush makes sure that all of the ingredients that make up their products don't come from companies that still test on animals because they refuse to support such companies or give them any money. If Lush were to buy ingredients from companies who test on animals, they would save money because it is cheaper to test on animals than humans. Another reason that Lush's non-animal testing policy is for purely ethical reasons and not publicity is that Lush limits by not using any animal fat in their merchandise. Animal fats and oils are used in many cosmetic products and are seen as necessities to other cosmetic companies, however  87% of Lush's products are vegan and 100% are vegetarian. Also, Lush in 2012 hired performance artist Jacqueline Traide, to reenact the horrors of animal testing in the window of their flagship store. Some may argue that this was a publicity stunt in order to attract customers, however I disagree. The performance is incredibly disturbing and definitely lacks sex appeal.            Many people would actually be too afraid to enter the store seeing this woman being tortured and all, however they did get the message which is simply what Lush Cosmetics wants. Lastly, because of Lush's stance against animal testing, Lush Cosmetics can't open store locations in certain countries because their laws require animal testing. If Lush was more concerned about money than their ethics, they would consider bending their policy for select countries that won't sell their products. Lush however, refuses to change because they truly believe animal testing is wrong. 

                                        

     Lush Cosmetics' packaging also is an indication that Lush Cosmetics that Lush has postconventional morality. Lush's ethics are reflective in the products themselves: solid shampoos, conditioners, and solids bath scrubs were purposely made in order to reduce packaging. In effort to reduce unnecessary packaging, Lush has accomplished making 40% of their products package free or "naked." This business decision is made on pure ethics because selling their products naked has discouraged buyers including myself from purchasing their merchandise before. As for the other 60% or their products, Lush encases them in plastic that is 100% recyclable. Of course Lush knows that even though recycling is widely available, a shocking amount of people still simply do not recycle, so they developed a marketing plan that helps encourage recycling: if a customer returns five empty black pots they get a free face mask. The fact that Lush gives away free products to reward those who practice the same ethics as they do really strengthens the theory of Lush Cosmetics upholding postvonventional morality.

Charity Pot

     One product in particular single handily proves that Lush Cosmetics 

upholds postconventional morality: "Charity Pot." Charity Pot is more than just a lotion, it's a symbol of Lush's generosity and the genuine concern for the world that we all share. Charity Pot began in October of 2007 for organizations they deemed worthy and other projects. Every purchase of Charity Pot goes directly to grassroots organizations; 100%. Lush not only gives these organizations all of their profits off of their Charity Pot, they also display their logos on Charity Pots to spread the word of their hard work. Lush has over 100 Charity Pot partners, and projects, that they donate to as well as directly help by volunteering their own Lush employees. The charitable organizations they have partnered with cover a wide variety of issues such as animal, environmental, and humanitarian causes. This is extremely selfless of Lush Cosmetics and demonstrates their outstanding compassion as a company, seeing as they are willing to sacrifice all profits on a popular product in order to help the world.

      Lush has made great strides not only in the world of cosmetics, but also in the worlds of animal rights and environmentalism, and humanitarianism. Lush sacrifices profits by buying only from companies that don't test on animals, customers by scaring them away with gritty performance art and not being able to open store locations in countries that require animal testing for cosmetics, and limits their product development by eliminating the use of animal fat in their products all in hopes to end animal testing completely. Lush has also made great strides to make little or no packaging necessary for their products despite the fact it can discourage customers. Lastly, Lush donates all of its profits from Charity Pot in order to help grassroots organizations which is truly noble. It is because of all these selfless acts of Lush that it is clear that they uphold postconventional morality and their ethics are of the highest standards. Lush is truly a great company who's ethics not only inspire other companies, but we as individuals ourselves.