Lush quits social media again, says it's had enough of the harm platforms do

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 22, 2021

Natural beauty products brand Lush is turning its back on social media as of 26 November until the various networks “take action to provide a safer environment for users”.

The company had also exited Facebook and Instagram back in 2019, yet it did return to the platforms and it now says it’s determined to make it work this time.

The company said it has “had enough” of networks such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, particularly following the recent revelations from a Facebook whistleblower.

It means all Lush brand, retail and people accounts around the world will be closing but the firm is promising to “invest in new ways to connect and build better communication channels elsewhere”.

This policy is rolling out across all the 48 countries where it operates.  

The company said: “In the same way that evidence against climate change was ignored and belittled for decades, concerns about the serious effects of social media are going largely ignored now.  Lush is taking matters into its own hands and addressing the issues now, not waiting around until others believe in the problem before changing its own behaviour.”

And it added: “Like so many teenagers have experienced before us, Lush has tried to come off social media, but our FOMO is vast, and our compulsion to use the various platforms means we find ourselves back on there, despite our best intentions. So here we are again, trying to go cold (plant-based) turkey.”

Founder Mark Constantine said that he’s spent all his life avoiding putting harmful ingredients in the brand’s products and “there is now overwhelming evidence we are being put at risk when using social media. I’m not willing to expose my customers to this harm, so it’s time to take it out of the mix”.

Lush promised that it wouldn’t be “completely anti-social. We will do all we can to find new ways to connect, to build better channels of communication elsewhere, as well as using the older tried and tested routes”. And it will still be found on YouTube and Twitter “for now”.