OUR ACTIVISM
OUR HISTORY OF FIGHTING FOR A FAIRER, MORE BEAUTIFUL WORLD.
Campaigning for social change has been a part of The Body Shop since the beginning. Activism is in our DNA, since we first teamed up with Greenpeace back in 1986. Today, we’re a trusted global brand with decades of successful activism behind us, and we’re in a unique position to stand up for real change and influence policy, attitude and behaviours. Discover more about our history of activism campaigns here.
OUR HERITAGE
1976
The very first The Body Shop store opens on 26th March 1976 in Brighton, on the south coast of England. By 1978 the first overseas franchise is a kiosk in Brussels and by 1982 new shops are opening at a rate of two a month.
1986
Save the Whales with Greenpeace is the first major campaign that Anita and The Body Shop launch.
1987
The first Community Fair Trade product for The Body Shop is a footsie roller, produced by Teddy Exports, a supplier in southern India. Thanks to trade with The Body Shop, the Teddy School opens in 1994, bringing an opportunity to educate the local children.
1988
Anita Roddick is awarded an OBE.
1989
Our first environmental campaign calls for a stop to the burning of Brazilian rainforests. A million petition signatures are presented to the president of Brazil.
1990
The Body Shop Foundation, a charity which funds human rights, animal and environmental protection groups, is established.
1992
The launch of the first Body Butter, starting with Mango. Since then it has become one of the most famous products of The Body Shop. It has been imitated since, but ours is the original and still winning awards around the world.
1993
We launched a campaign to raise awareness of the plight of the Ogoni People. The tribe is persecuted for protesting against the dumping of petroleum waste in their homeland in the Niger Delta. In 1995, their leader, the author and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, was executed by the Nigerian military rulers. The campaign continued until 1998.
1994
The Body Shop At Home™ is launched.
1996
The Against Animal Testing campaign gathers four million signatures - the largest ever petition at the time - and delivers it to the European Commission. In November 1998, our campaign leads to a UK-wide ban on animal testing on cosmetic products & ingredients.
1997
The Body Shop is the first international cosmetics company to be recognised under the Humane Cosmetics Standard supported by leading international animal protection groups.
1997
We create a doll called Ruby to challenge beauty stereotypes. She fronted our campaign for female self-esteem and sparked a worldwide debate about body image.
1998
The Dalai Lama helps us launch Make Your Mark. The campaign, in partnership with Amnesty International, marks the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Three million people signed the petition.
2002
The Body Shop runs a global campaign with Greenpeace International to promote renewable energy. Peter Saunders becomes CEO.
2003
Stop Violence in the Home campaign launched to raise money in support of victims of domestic violence. Anita Roddick is appointed Dame of the British Empire.
2008
We launched a campaign with MTV International to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS. Our message reached millions of people and our campaign products raised over £2 million for our charity partner, the Staying Alive Foundation. The funds helped to educate young people on how to stay safe, and support those living with HIV and AIDS.
2009
The Body Shop and ECPAT International launch The Stop Trafficking of Children & Young People campaign. It inspires change on an unprecedented scale, gathering over 7 million signatures from customers globally and leading to 24 countries across the world committing to adopting new legislation. The petition is presented to the UN in 2012 and it becomes the largest campaign ever for The Body Shop.
2009
We publish our first Values report, responding to areas that our customers told us are important to them. The report detailed what we achieved between January 2007 and December 2008 as well as some of the challenges we face.
2009
The Body Shop receives the RSPCA ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’.
2011
The Body Shop helps to establish The Global Shea Alliance to improve shea production and drive greater benefits to the women involved in handcrafting shea products.
2012
We re-launch our ‘Against Animal Testing’ campaign in partnership with Cruelty Free International.
2013
After 20 years of relentless campaigning, we celebrate a ban preventing the import and sale of animal tested products and ingredients in the European Union. The Body Shop is named International Responsible Business of 2013 from the prestigious Business in The Community Organisation. Jeremy Schwartz becomes CEO.
2014
The Body Shop wins Business in the Community International Responsible Business of the year, for the second year running.
2015
We receive a Global Shea Alliance Award in recognition of our efforts to build a sustainable Shea industry.
2016
We launched our bio-bridges programme with World Land Trust in 2016. Bio-bridges help regenerate forests and reconnect endangered species, helping them to meet, mate and thrives as well as enabling the local communities to live more sustainably. We built our first bio-bridge in Vietnam, followed by Rwanda, Ecuador and India.
2017
In June 2017, we launched Forever Against Animal Testing with Cruelty Free International. One of our biggest campaigns to date, we set out to end animal testing in cosmetics - everywhere and forever. After a year’s campaigning, we collected over 8 million signatures and took our petition to the United Nations in October 2018 to lobby for a worldwide ban.
2021
RISE UP WITH SELF-LOVE
In 2021, we gave a platform to the emerging collective of fearless people who have risen up with the power of self-love in a world that profits from self-doubt. We’re committed to breaking down barriers to self-love in ourselves, our organisations, the beauty industry and the world. With your help, we want to share 1 million acts of self-love across the globe and fight for change together. Get inspired, take action and join the self-love uprising.