4/22/2008 ETA: Since I posted this, Burt’s Bees has pledged to only buy cruelty-free ingredients from its suppliers, and is now listed on the CCIC’s list of cruelty-free companies, and my list as well. So I no longer think Burt’s Bees sucks at all. In fact, I think Burt’s Bees is wonderful for promoting the health and well-being of numerous lab rats and rabbits. Go Burt’s Bees!
I am so appalled that Burt’s Bee is being acquired by Clorox (Thanks for bringing this up Kathy!).
Unfortunately Burt’s Bees has annoyed me for a long time now. Its products are not 100%-animal-testing-free and never have been. This is despite the fact that Burt’s Bees seems like the kind of company that ought to prioritize making sure its products are 100%-animal-testing-free. It’s all natural! It’s pro-environment! It’s got cute hippie packaging! But no.
By “not 100%-animal-testing-free” I mean that Burt’s Bees, while it does not commission or perform animal tests itself, does not require its suppliers to be animal-testing-free as well. This means all the oils, minerals, extracts, etc., that Burt’s Bees buys to make its cute little products are probably tested on animals. At any rate, they are not guaranteed animal-testing-free.
So I haven’t been buying Burt’s Bees products for a while now because of Burt’s Bees lack of 100% commitment to ending animal testing. I have instead been buying products from companies that not only don’t fund giant pain-filled laboratories but also make sure to only buy ingredients from suppliers that don’t fund giant pain-filled laboratories. (If you’re new to this blog – that is what the whole point of this blog is – to document my trying out products that are 100%-animal-testing-free.)
There really is no excuse for Burt’s Bees not making sure its ingredients are 100%-animal-testing-free. It’s very easy to go 100%-animal-testing-free as a large cosmetics company – all 188 companies listed on the Coalition for Consumer Information in Cosmetic’s list have managed to do so, so it can’t be that hard.
Lying by Implication:
Many companies state that they do not test on animals but they actually put products on shelves that are not 100%-animal-testing-free. Some of these so-called cruelty-free companies are: Burt’s Bees, Revlon, Aveda, Avon, Bare Escentuals, Bath and Bodyworks, BeneFit, Bonne Bell, Clarins, Conair, Crabtree & Evelyn, Dessert Essence, Donna Karan, Dr. Denese, Dr. Hauschka, DuWop, Eco Lips, Estee Lauder, Got2B, Jack Black, Jessicurl, John Masters Organics, Kate Spade Beauty, Liz Claiborne Cosmetics, Mrs. Meyers, Origins, Paula’s Choice, Paul Penders, Pharmacopia, Philosophy, Physicians Formula, Smashbox, Stila, Whole Foods Market 365 brand, Zia. To name a few.
These companies aren’t lying – but they are misleading you. When you read that the company does not perform animal tests, your mind naturally jumps to the idea that the product is 100%-animal-testing-free. But that isn’t true – the company could have outsourced the animal testing to a different institution, or bought ingredients that were tested on animals and claimed to have no control over those ingredients.
Lie by implication these companies make: “We do not test on animals.”
What this really means: “We don’t run any animal tests ourselves, because those would require huge, expensive laboratories. So we outsource the animal testing to a laboratory, and then claim we don’t actually run the tests ourselves, or we buy ingredients that have been tested on animals, but then claim we had no control over that.”The only way you can be sure a company is 100% cruelty-free: the company states that it does not perform or commission any animal testing on its products, and it asks its suppliers to only supply it with 100%-animal-testing-free initial ingredients as well. (Or the company is on the CCIC’s master list of cruelty-free companies — companies on that list have pledged to not commission animal tests, and to ask their suppliers to pledge to supply them with ingredients that have been tested on animals. That’s why it’s such a great list.)
(Don’t get me wrong — I actually think it’s great that most of these companies – Revlon, Dr. Hauschka, Estee Lauder, etc – do not have laboratories that torture rabbits and rats. I really, really do. I am thrilled that they’ve made this commitment to not test on animals. And I think if you want to choose between any of these companies and hideously-evil-companies like L’Oreal that do fund evil laboratory studies, please pick one of these relatively better companies. They are so much better – I’d take (evil-by-neglect) Philosophy over (very evil) L’Oreal any day. But, what really bugs me about these evil-by-neglect companies is that they go out of their way to imply that their products are animal-testing-free when they aren’t. This confused me for years, and I resent it. I realize the companies do it so everyone becomes confused by what is and is not tested on animals and so they give up trying to tell what is and is not cruelty-free, and more products get sold, and the companies make more money, but . . . It. Really. Annoys. Me. And I do not condone that sort of behavior.)
That being said, I have always admired Burt’s Bees for not actively running laboratories that test products on animals, and I’m sad to see that it’s been bought by a company like Clorox that is out-and-out evil and does commission animal testing.
But the fact that Clorox tests on animals doesn’t appall me. What REALLY appalls me is that Burt’s Bees is not going to maintain its not-commissioning-animal-tests stance now that it has been bought by Clorox. It wouldn’t bother me too much if Clorox bought Burt’s Bees but agreed to uphold Burt’s Bees stance on not commissioning any animal tests. That would actually be a good thing — it would give Clorox money for not testing on animals, which would reward Clorox for being kind to animals — and might incentivize Clorox to eventually not test on animals. Here is a letter on the Burt’s Bees website basically saying that Burt’s Bees is going to be swallowed up by Clorox and has dropped its no-commissioning-animal-testing stance.
Burt’s Bees Letter to Our Loyal Customers
As you’ve probably heard by now, we at Burt’s Bees are entering an exciting new chapter in our lives as a result of the recent sale of the company to The Clorox Company. It’s a great opportunity to help us better deliver against our mission of making truly natural personal products available to everyone, everywhere. (My comment – so not testing on animals is not part of Burt’s Bees mission any more?)
This new journey gives us the energy and the resources to do even more. Not only will we be able to accelerate our growth, but this will also help us to grow the natural personal care category in general, furthering our commitment to The Greater Good.
You can keep counting on Burt’s Bees in the ways you always have. We will always stay steadfast behind our values and commitment to making the best natural personal care products with the most environmentally sensitive packaging and nature-safe manufacturing processes. And, above all, we’ll continue on with our social mission to make people’s lives better every day, naturally. (My comment – so environmentally safe packaging is important to Burt’s Bees values but kindness to animals is not?)
It’s your desire to improve your well-being and the world around you that has given us the support to take this next step. We thank you and ask for your continued support so we can keep the Burt’s Bees hive buzzing.
Do you see that? Not one mention of Burt’s Bees animal testing policy and how it will be affected by the Clorox buyout? I mean, at least the Body Shop and Tom’s of Maine have promised to keep their products animal-testing-free despite being bought by evil corporations — Burt’s Bees has instead gone straight to the dark side. The Body Shop and Tom’s of Maine are SO MUCH MORE animal-friendly than Burt’s Bees (they’ve both maintained their CCIC membership and 100%-animal-testing-free-commitment). At least if you buy Body Shop or Tom’s of Maine products you are actively encouraging L’Oreal and Colgate to stop testing on animals (which is a wonderful thing to do!). But if you buy Burt’s Bees products now you are doing absolutely nothing in the fight against animal testing, and you are actively contributing to animals being needlessly hurt (in my opinion). Shame on Burt’s Bees for letting that happen.
Tags : burt's bees
Categories : against animal testing, cruelty free
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Sarah
January 20th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Interesting blog but, unfortunately, you make a couple of points that are as misleading as some of the companies’ claims.
You’re right, Burt’s Bees doesn’t perform any in-house animal testing. But they’re still a fairly small company so it’s going to take then some time to get their suppliers in-line to support “no animal testing claims”. I saw their new Sustainability Director Yola Carlough make a presentation a few weeks back and Burt’s Bees is working on just that. Expect to see a number of certifications from them over the next year or two including fair trade, cradle-to-cradle, sustainable forestry, etc.
As for Clorox’s animal testing, Yola indicated that Clorox only performs such testing where strictly required by law (like US EPA) and number of tests is VERY low (single digits per year). Burt’s is pushing Clorox to go public on this matter and make their efforts to eliminate such legal mandates known to the world. I hope to see Clorox actually join forces with PETA (and similar interests) in this battle. Clorox has the Sierra Club’s endorsement for the new Green Works line of cleaners so maybe a Clorox/PETA arragement isn’t so far away.
Finally, I don’t recall being Burt’s Bees stating that they were against animal testing in the past so how can you claim that it’s “no longer” a part of their mission? They seem to be living their stated mission and, once a “no animal testing” claim is added to the mission, I will believe them.
Emily
January 20th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Hi Sarah,
Thank you for your comment but I respectfully disagree — Burt’s Bees products are sold at 20,000 stores worldwide (according to Google Finance) and had sales of $62.6 million in 2007, which makes it one of the biggest, if not the biggest, “natural” products company out there.
http://www.hoovers.com/burt’s-bees/–ID__104522–/free-co-factsheet.xhtml?cm_ven=Biz_Dev&cm_cat=Google&cm_pla=Free&cm_ite=Factsheet
So I wouldn’t describe it as a “small company” that would have trouble finding suppliers who would promise not to test on animals. I think it’s got more than enough clout to persuade its suppliers to give it animal-friendly ingredients.
Also, Burt’s Bees has in the past signed a statement of assurance to PETA that it does not commission or perform any in-house testing on animals, so I would describe that as Burt’s Bees showing a past commitment to being against animal testing.
http://www.caringconsumer.com/pdfs/companiesDontTest.pdf
So I’m sad that Burt’s Bees is giving that up to become a part of Clorox.
However, thank you SO MUCH for telling me that Clorox performs so little animal testing (except I’m suspicious about this required by law part — is that for some nonhousehold item or brand-new chemical that Clorox makes? because most household products do not have to be tested on animals, to my understanding) and that Burt’s Bees is pushing Clorox to go public on this matter to eliminate such legal mandates. I would LOVE to see Clorox join forces with PETA in that battle!
Also thanks for telling me about the new Sustainability Director Yola Carlough at Burt’s Bees — I am absolutely thrilled that Burt’s Bees is going to get a number of certifications on being fair trade, having sustainable forestry, etc. She sounds wonderful! I can only hope Ms. Carlough also managed to make Burt’s Bees pledge to be 100%-cruelty-free as well.
jessica elgin
January 20th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
thanks for sharing this! i had heard about burt’s bees being bought out. tom’s of maine and ben & jerry’s are other “good” companies that have been bought out in recent years. i plan on writing a post about it soon. i’ll keep you updated!
Emily
January 21st, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Excellent! I shall look forward to it!
Wendy Koenigsmann
January 21st, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I am so appalled that Burt’s Bee is being acquired by Clorox . . .
–Wow, that is really horrible. It’s too bad because I have really liked some of their products. Thanks so much for providing that master list. No doubt I will be looking at that and really making sure that whatever I buy is completely cruelty-free.
I too am appalled by the level of apathy of these companies. Shame on them.
Cody
January 25th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Ugh. I haven’t bought any of their products in awhile, but I was at least sort of happy to see them EVERYWHERE now-a-days. But, I suppose that usually comes at a price…
Emily
January 27th, 2008 at 1:24 am
Hi Cody!
Welcome to my blog! I had the exact same experience — I was really excited to see Burt’s Bees products everywhere too! Remember when you could only buy them at Borders, of all places? But now they’re everywhere and have gone over to the dark side . . .
SITES TO KNOW : LIVING CRUELTY FREE : A Greener Tea
May 14th, 2008 at 11:45 am
[...] pulls no punches, which I love, like in the article Burt’s Bees Sucks . Look at the letter Emily wrote and their response. Having had a similar experience with a call to [...]
Natasha
May 25th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Oh god this is awful! So many companies lie! I thought PETA wouldn’t have Bonne Bell, Revlon, Got2b , etc. if they have any ingredients tested on animals. I buy Bonne Bell all the time. It’s one of few make up companies that is on PETA’s list that is sold in my city. And one of my cat loves Bonne Bell lip gloss since she always tries to lick it off my lips !lol I’ve bought Revlon, Got2b and Avon too since I thought they were the good guys. This is depressing. I don’t these companies should be on PETA’s list.
Emily
May 26th, 2008 at 12:10 am
I completely agree with you! Doesn’t it suck that PETA allows companies that don’t make sure their products aren’t tested on animals on its list? It seems like that goes against PETA’s ideals.
Natasha
May 26th, 2008 at 4:40 am
There’s some things PETA does that doesn’t make any sense.They do some really excellent work but they also do questionable things. The caring consumer list isn’t correct, they list some vegan food products on their site that is from P&G and Nestle, they euthanzie healthy animals, workers from PETA thta go undercover actually have to torture animals so they can get it on tape , and use sexual ads which I doubt gets people involved in animals rights. I think ads that show the reality of the way animals are treated are more effective.
I emailed them a couple about a couple of weeks ago asking why there are vegan foods on their vegan food list from P&G and Nestle. The guy that emailed me said it was their list because they want people to know how many vegan foods you can get at the grocery store.I think that’s ridiculous. People that are new to animal rights could buy those products and then find out later that it’s not cruelty free which will make them feel so bad.
kristen
September 14th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
regarding aveda i found this on their website here:
http://www.aveda.com/customerservice/faq.tmpl#2
Do you perform testing on animals?
“No. All Aveda products are people-tested.
The Aveda Corporation is committed to the elimination of animal testing. We are equally committed to consumer health and safety, and bringing to market products that comply with applicable regulations in every country in which our products are sold.
We do not conduct animal testing on our products or ingredients, nor ask others to test on our behalf, except when required by law. We evaluate our finished products in clinical tests on volunteer panels.
The Aveda Corporation fully supports the development and global acceptance of non-animal testing alternatives. To this end, Aveda works extensively with the industry at large and the global scientific community to research and fund these alternatives.”
I see the “except when required by law” clause above. I was heartbroken when I read on your site the list of 50% companies and so badly want Aveda to be 100%. According to this info on their site, they should fall under the 100% since these are thing required to test? What can I do to either pressure them or have them changed on the CCIC list?
Emily
September 18th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Hi again Kristen!
Hmm, Aveda is weird. There are no legal requirements for any cosmetics to be tested on animals, so Aveda is either a) lying or b) producing some sort of product that is a pharmaceutical that must be tested on animals. (Or maybe some country outside of the U.S. or the E.U. has some animal testing requirements of cosmetics I don’t know about? I suppose that’s a possibility.) I don’t know much about Aveda so I can’t say. Either way, it’s a little shady.
Also, notice that Aveda is implying that its products are 100%-cruelty-free, but that is a lie. Look at the wording of paragraph 4 — Aveda doesn’t state clearly that its ingredients aren’t tested on animals — it states that Aveda has never commissioned any animal testing on those ingredients. This is kind of like the faux-organic farmer saying that he didn’t ask the commercial company he bought seedlings from to grow those seedlings in chemical-laced soil, so it’s not his fault if they were grown in chemical-laced soil. Aveda could perfectly well buy products that have been tested on animals yet still claim to be “cruelty-free” according to their manifesto here. So I don’t think Aveda is 100%-cruelty-free.
That being said, I think Aveda makes wonderful products and is at least interested in not testing on animals unlike many other companies, so if you’re going to buy 50%-cruelty-free products, Aveda would be a good choice.
The best thing you can do to pressure Aveda to become 100%-cruelty-free is to boycott its products until Aveda certifies itself with the CCIC as being 100%-animal-testing-free. Aveda is a for-profit company and it really would like you to buy its products. You could also try sending Aveda an email saying you will not buy any more Aveda products until Aveda certifies itself with the CCIC as being 100%-animal-testing-free. If Aveda gets enough letters like those, maybe it will take notice!
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