Naked packaging, naked employees -- is Lush the ultimate green product?
Filed under: Sex Sells, Extracurriculars, Shopping
Today is naked day at 24 Lush cosmetics stores across the U.S. today (except for, maybe, the Somerset Collection Lush store in Troy, Michigan, whose mall managers said no to the protest). Employees are being encouraged to show up to work in nothing but their aprons as a protest against unneccessary packaging. Does this make it the ultimate green product? Or is there something a little cheeky in its promotion?
Note: These photos contain partial nudity.
To see all 10 of Sarah Gilbert's top 10 best and worst naked advertising campaigns, click here.
Lushs Green Day
Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, based in Britain, are sold in cakes with as little packaging as possible. More than half of the companies products have no plastic wrap or other containers at all, even shampoos, which are sold in blocks.
Al Behrman, AP
To highlight its environmental cause, Lush stages "naked" days, where employees are asked to come to work wearing just a white apron that says "Ask me why I am naked." The first U.S. version of this was set for Wednesday, August 27.
Olaf Kraak, AFP / Getty Images
The company has also staged naked days in Amsterdam, Canada and Berlin.
Lush, a luxury cosmetic company based in Britain, is known for its efforts to reduce packaging -- about half of its products are sold without plastic wrap and other containers. Shampoos and soaps come in bars instead. Lush says that packaging uses up 8% of the world's oil resources. But still, that leaves a giant selection of its products with some packaging attached.
The company tried a similar naked day in Canada in 2007 and in Berlin most recently and for one, the blog treehugger.com asked how environmental is was to hand out leaflets explaining the protest.
Note: The following video has some partial nudity.
Many companies these days are making an effort to reduce packaging -- have you tried a water bottle lately -- but without a major stunt campaign. It, of course, would be difficult to sell bottled water and other beverages without some kind of packaging. But there is definitely a lot more that companies could do in order to reduce waste and at the same time improve customer experiences.
Here's some packaging I'd like to see go:
- Styrofoam packing peanuts
- Wrapping paper for presents, and even glossy gift bags
- Shrink wrap for CDs and DVDs: wouldn't a simple tamper-proof sticker do just as well?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
8-27-2008 @ 12:16PM
Gin said...
First!
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8-27-2008 @ 12:37PM
Jack said...
And we worry about what people in Europe think of us. Gimme a friggin' break!
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8-27-2008 @ 12:36PM
Jack said...
"RIGHT WING BIBLE WAIVER RUN IT"
Joel write very good English language grammar. And spell good same time also. Seem so smart!
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8-27-2008 @ 12:35PM
Ed said...
Catchy promotion, but they didn't really have to go that far. Kids in mall, people. If you get annoyed when your little ones recit the bathroom words and other such things, you'll really love them when they see some naked chick at the mall. In any event, they do have a point. Packaging is rediculous in this country alone.
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8-27-2008 @ 12:45PM
Dee said...
How mature are we Gin...how mature??
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8-27-2008 @ 12:50PM
Pami said...
There are better ways to handle things, and warmer. This protest sounds a bit childish to me. I'm not talking about the cause, but the method behind it. Getting naked solved very little in this world besides procreation. I have serious doubts this will accomplish anything today except get alot of people into trouble, create bad feelings and maybe even give a few colds. This group needs to think "outside the box" to come up with a more appropriate solution.
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8-27-2008 @ 12:57PM
Becky Welch said...
Wow... those girls are pale...
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8-27-2008 @ 12:58PM
Lush said...
I applied for a job at Lush cosmetics. I did not take it because it was not great pay and enough hours for me. Everyone I met who worked for the store and in the company books at the other stores has the same look. Fat, plain, and dumpy and extremely ugly. I would never want to see anyone from this company naked EVER!!!! Even the name Lush is too attractive for there staff. Should be called Dump!
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8-27-2008 @ 1:35PM
Adrienne W said...
While shopping for software the other day I found an identical program packaged two different ways selling for two different prices. The package with the full box cost $19.98 while the one with the package the same size as the plastic CD case sold for only $9.98. How stupid is that? Why not package all of the software in the smaller package and sell it for less? Why even bother packaging it in the larger box and selling it for more? I don't get it.
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8-27-2008 @ 1:08PM
tommy said...
The intent is good but the whole concept of easily accessible and unpackaged products is not. Remember tylenol poisonings and a few other tainted products! I think i'll keep using my hammer to open CD's in hopes of having my consumables safer from the nut cases running around the world.
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8-27-2008 @ 1:09PM
sharlynne said...
I for one do not wish to purchase items from naked people. Naked is ok at home, your pool, etc. But my makeup doesn't need unwanted curly hairs!
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8-27-2008 @ 1:30PM
warren garrison said...
next time you're by the pool could you let me know, AND, is the wall very high, will I need a ladder to peek? And keep in mind, I only do pools, I have a strict rule about homes or peeking through windows, just pools.
8-27-2008 @ 1:11PM
Carolyn said...
Didn't work for me. I'm thinkin about germs when I see no
packaging....I'm thinkin when you approach me naked to sell me something unpackaged....Nasty! How many of you scratched your butt and touched a product. Ridiculous approach and definitely not business savy. Seems desparate like other methods that use sex to sell. I'm thinking something is lacking here that they have to go to such measures.
Nasty, Yuck!
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8-27-2008 @ 4:12PM
Col said...
So I'm guessing you don't eat at Subway either?
8-27-2008 @ 1:24PM
Carol said...
It's very obvious that there was not much of a thought process in this idea. The marketing firm for this company should be fired. It appears as if someone (at the end of a very long day), just threw up his/her hands and said, "well, let's just go naked and call it a day." Shame on all involved.
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8-27-2008 @ 1:21PM
Toni B said...
Oh plz they do this sort of thing at least once a yr. I buy Lush products all the time, they are wonderful and worth the money that i pay for them and I for one am glad that nothing is tested on animals and most things are vegan and all natural. As for the woman that complained that she didnt want to work at Lush because the people there are dumpy? They look natural. I see someone isnt conceited they are convinced.
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8-27-2008 @ 1:36PM
ccorwin said...
I'm glad to hear the store/managers in Troy, MI were brave enough to say no to the LUSH.... This protest is enough for me to never even WANT to step foot into one of their stores... Can you imagine shopping with your kids one day and you stumble across this in the mall??? How do you explain that?
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8-27-2008 @ 9:57PM
DAZ said...
"How do you explain that?"
What is there to explain. My daughters are 11 and 15 and I only hope that one day that they will be comfortable enough with their own bodies to consider this.
There is nothing wrong with the human body. All you Bible thumpers and old prudish women need to get over yourselves and accept this. God made us in his image right? So if this is true then we should celebrate the bodies that HE has given us not teach our children to be ashamed of them.
8-27-2008 @ 1:39PM
Elaine said...
Wow - finally a place where I'd feel comfortable going "naked" in public!! ha-ha.
Have you noticed that MOST of the guys who criticize what a woman looks like in the nude are the same guys who look like crap themselves! Believe me, those women wouldn't want YOU either.
Fat, Sassy, and Happy (and happily married too! All 195 lbs of me).
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8-27-2008 @ 1:43PM
MIKE said...
WHY DO WOMAN HAVE TO TAKE THEIR CLOTHS OFF TO MAKE A PLOITICAL STATEMENT ?
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