Anita Roddick

Dame Anita Lucia Roddick, DBE was a British businesswoman, human rights activist and environmental campaigner. She founded The Body Shop, a cosmetics company producing and retailing natural beauty products that shaped ethical consumerism. The company was one of the first to prohibit the use of ingredients tested on animals in some of its products. She encouraged equality and an end to exploitation and exploitation of workers.

About Anita Roddick in brief

Summary Anita RoddickDame Anita Lucia Roddick, DBE was a British businesswoman, human rights activist and environmental campaigner. She founded The Body Shop, a cosmetics company producing and retailing natural beauty products that shaped ethical consumerism. The company was one of the first to prohibit the use of ingredients tested on animals in some of its products. In 1990 she founded Children on the Edge, a charitable organisation which helps disadvantaged children in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. In the late 1990s, she became involved in advocating for the Angola Three, African-American prisoners at the Louisiana State Penitentiary who had already been held in solitary confinement for decades. In 1997, Anita Rodick developed the Body Shop’s most successful campaign ever, creating Ruby, the size 16 doll, who was thought to bear a passing resemblance to Barbie. On 17 March 2006, L’Oréal purchased Body Shop for £652 million. Some controversy and criticism was raised, as L’oréal was known to use animal testing and the company was part-owned by Nestlé.

The latter had been criticised for its treatment of third-world producers. In an interview with The Guardian, it reported that \”she sees herself as a kind of ‘Trojan horse’ who by selling her business to a huge firm will be able to influence the decisions it makes. It reported that she intended to use her fortune for philanthropy. She encouraged equality and an end to exploitation and exploitation of workers. She wrote the book Take It Personally; It’s Your Life, Your Money, Your Destiny. She was awarded the 1991 World Vision Award for Development Initiative for her work on environmental issues and was a member of the Demos think tank’s advisory council. She also helped raise international awareness and funds to aid in their appeals of flawed trials. She created COTE to help manage the crisis of poor conditions in the overcrowded orphanages and worked to de-institutionalise the children over the course of their early life. COTE’s mission is to help disadvantaged children affected by natural disasters, conflicts, and HIVAIDS.