Lush shocks with animal testing on human PR stunt
Humane Society International and Lush Cosmetics have joined forces to bring about an end to animal testing, and to shock the public with what happens, a 24 year old woman underwent the same treatment, including irritant being sprayed into her eyes and part of her head shaved.
In the window of the Regent Street store in London yesterday, artist Jacqueline Traide was restrained for ten hours, and was also given injections, covered in different lotions and force-fed, with her mouth stretched open with two metal hooks attached to her head via a strap.
Lush said in a blog: “We have not added to the pain endured by millions of animals daily: we have only projected a pain that happens behind closed walls into a public shop window on a very public high street.
“We know the images are stark, even brutal, but they are images, they are not the reality of a laboratory animal’s suffering. I believe that much of their strength (especially for women who – in the main – are the consumers of the cosmetics industry) is because we empathise with the vulnerability and oppression – as women. It’s horrible to think that the ‘feel good’ beauty industry contains such dark secrets and such helpless victims and it’s even worse to think who is responsible for that suffering.”
The aim of the campaign was to get the watching members of the public to sign the petition to fight animal testing – and although Lush has said that hundreds did, others watched - and filmed - the display and walked on.
What do you think? Is the world at the stage where only something as shocking as this can provoke people to sign a campaign – or is this too far?