She has become, it appears, a local celebrity. According to the account, she was showered with a standing ovation. I was horrified. Not for myself, but for those who attended the ceremony and believed the high-minded pronouncements. The reality beneath the green veneer is that The Body Shop is an ethically challenged company with a precarious future, particularly in the United States.
Franchisees there complain of 'fraudulent' presentations by the company when they bought franchises.
There is talk of a group action that could involve claims totaling hundreds of millions of pounds. This is just the latest in a spate of recent news stories detailing its escalating woes. According to the Jerusalem Post, The Body Shop was kicked out of Israel for kowtowing to the Arab boycott. The money-draining U.S. stores are reportedly on the auction block. According to The Body Shop's own figures, less than .165 percent of its turnover went to Third World producers.