Liar, Liar

Reading Toxic Sludge Is Good For You was interesting, because I'm debating whether or not I want to switch into Public Relations for my specialization. I understand the book is a negative analysis, but it made me wonder if PR is the sort of career for a person like me.

Public Relations companies seem to be taking over. Our news is not as honest as we believe, with a lot of it coming from the roots of PR. The most shocking information I learned was about a store I've always loved. The Body Shop is known for it's animal-free products, promoting charity, and using natural ingredients without chemicals. I have shopped there for quite some time, mainly because they seemed to be a company that cared about more than just selling a product.

Is that facade completely false? When journalist Jon Entine began researching, he found that it was. His discoveries on The Body Shop included:
-"Used animals-tested ingredients"
-"Used many outdated, off-the-shelf product formulas filled with non-renewable petrochemicals"
-"Had a history of quality control problems, including selling products that were contaminated and contained formaldehyde" (74)

The even scarier aspect is what happened when Entine tried to contact The Body Shop's PR Department and what happened when his article was published. Instead of sending Entine proper claims, they became extremely angry with his questions. When Entine's article ran in Business Ethics magazine, editor Craig Cox said the Body Shop had found the magazine's mailing list in order to send each subscriber a letter attacking Entine's article. The Body Shop's PR guru worked for Hill & Knowlton, which is the most powerful PR firm in the United States. One magazine article was ripped apart by The PR department for The Body Shop, making sure thier image was not tarnished.

It is not just The Body Shop that makes environmental claims, while in reality, uses animal products and hires big PR firms to cover up their lies. Other companies do it too. Entine says, "The Body Shop had deceived the public by trying to make us think that they are a lot further down the road to sustainability than they really are. We should recognize and encourage corporations that are moving in the right direction; but no longer should the public lionize The Body Shop and others who claim to be something they are not" (76).

This part of the book really shed a new light on big corporations. It makes me wonder if other companies who say they do not test on animals or use animal by-products are actually lying. It really is about selling the product.

Works Cited:
Stauber, John and Rampton, Sheldon. Toxic Sludge Is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry. Monroe MA, Common Courage Press, 1995.