The out-of-home campaign got underway Monday when ads and digital billboard content went up at select high-traffic locations around New York City.
To secure high-tech display ads in premier city sites—Times Square and the Helmsley Walkway—The Body Shop engaged the OutFront media company. The end-animal-testing ads will be up through April 16.
“The Body Shop has been Forever Against Animal Testing since the 1980s,” Andrea Blieden, general manager of The Body Shop in the US, tells the press. “We're so excited to continue to spread the buzz of our campaign and bring our petition to outdoor audiences through our first ever out-of-home marketing campaign and digital billboards in New York City.”
“This activation puts us one step closer to our goal of delivering our petition and signatures to the United Nations later this year, and finally preventing animal testing in cosmetics forever, everywhere,” she says.
An ongoing effort
The Body Shop has partnered with the animal protection and advocacy group Cruelty Free International on the effort to end the use of animals in testing cosmetics and personal care ingredients and finished products.
The brand and the advocacy group began work on the UN petition last summer (when The Body Shop was still owned by L’Oréal). As Cosmetics Design reported at the time, “besides [brining] global clarity and consistency on the issue, the initiative is aiming to be a once-and-for-all resolution.”
“With an international convention enforced, consumers would finally be confident that any cosmetics they buy are cruelty free,” explained Jessie Macneil-Brown, senior manager of corporate responsibility and global campaigns at The Body Shop last June.
And Cruelty Free International is pushing for a global ban with various initiatives worldwide. (Read about their work with influencers in the EU here on Cosmetics Design Europe.)
The campaigns are about raising awareness, while The Body Shop’s call to action requires consumers to go online or into a store (there are 3,000 locations around the world) to sign the petition. And with the hashtag #ForeverAgainstAnimalTesting, the brand is also leveraging social media to keep the initiative top of mind.
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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.