UK: Campaigning’s Dame

Dame Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop and well known social activist, died unexpectedly at the age of 64 following a brain haemorrhage. Her two children, Sam and Justine and her husband, Gordon, sadly announced her death on Monday 10th September.

Adrian Bellamy, chairman of The Body Shop International, said in a statement that "Anita was not only our founder but she was also the heart and passion of The Body Shop and with her we achieved so much, whether on animal rights, human rights, Community Trade, or through the founding of organizations like Children on the Edge. It is no exaggeration to say that she changed the world of business with her campaigns for social and environmental responsibility."

Anita, with her passion for environmental and social justice, was an inspiration to many. ?If you think you are too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito? was one of her favourite quotes. She believed firmly in campaigning as a means for change, and put her ideals into practice by using the Body Shop as a vehicle to promote social messages. Anita once remarked, ?How can you ennoble the spirit, when you are selling something as inconsequential as face cream?? By never spending money on advertising, the Body Shop instead received publicity by supporting ?noble? causes, such as Greenpeace?s lobbying efforts against dumping hazardous waste in the North Sea, or the abolition of animal testing and by raising awareness about exploitation in the Third World.

The first Body Shop was opened in 1976, in Brighton, England with a £4,000 bank loan. Anita admits that at first her reasons for recycling were to keep the costs down as she had a husband abroad and two children to support. Today there are nearly 2,000 stores in 50 countries and in 2006 she sold the Body Shop to French multinational cosmetics company L?Oreal for 940 million euros, demonstrating that ethics have an unquestionably high market value.

In an interview last year VITA asked Anita whether she would have ever expected to sell to a multinational corporation. In her optimistic reply she explained how she didn?t believe that large companies are necessarily evil but rather that they too can change. Among the benefits that Body Shop would achieve, she said, were greater access to research and development as well as the opportunity to really have a global impact, especially in the South. ?With this partnership ? said Anita ? I can die with a smile on my lips?.

Anita Roddick was also a philanthropist, John Bird, the founder of England's Big Issue magazine sold by the homeless, called her the mother of the publication, after she helped set it up in 1990. Last year she had announced that she wanted to become a full time philanthropist and "give away all my money". She had expressed the desire to set up a foundation with a 51 million pound donation and that she also wanted to sell her Body Shop shares, worth 20 million, and donate the proceeds to charity. "Money means nothing to me, I am not interested in dying rich". Although she may not have been able to fulfil this desire, Anita lived with a sharp sense of her own mortality, which is perhaps what made her so determined to really live life. ?I wake up every morning thinking ? this is my last day. And I jam everything into it. There?s no time for mediocrity. This is no dammed dress rehearsal?.

Gordon Brown paid tribute to her on the evening of her death by calling her one of the country?s ?true pioneers?. The prime minister said that: ?She will be remembered not only as a great campaigner but also as a great entrepreneur? and added that by bringing sustainable products into the mass market she had inspired millions to the cause.

More info:

• I sell with a smile on my lips
• Smells like ethics. L'Oreal buy's out the Body Shop