Roddick tells AmEx to shed fur
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:
WEST SUSSEX, U.K.––Seeking
to build a progressive image, American
Express recently began airing television com-
mercials featuring British cruelty-free person-
al care products entrepreneur Anita Roddick,
whose Body Shop logo has become synony-
mous with conscientious capitalism. The
commercials describe how Roddick roams the
world in search of products whose ingredients
can be harvested from whole and healthy nat-
ural environments, such as the Amazonian
rainforest. It’s great publicity for The Body
Shop as well as for AmEx––and it came at a
price beyond dollars.
Before Roddick would pitch AmEx,
AmEx had to agree it would pitch fur gar-
ments out of its mail order catalog for credit
card holders.
“The fur issue,” said Roddick,
“was top of my list of concerns before agree-
ing to do the commercial. I had a meeting
with American Express where I was assured
that the current catalog would be the last one
to include fur. I always have and always will
consider abhorrent any abuse of animals in
relation to the beauty and fashion industries,”
Roddick continued. “Rest assured, The
Body Shop will continue to campaign vigor-
ously on this issue.”
