Cosmetic brand Lush has announced it will stop using Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat until the platforms “provide a safer environment for users.” In a statement, 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 barely being acknowledged.”
Speaking to TDA, Lush AUNZ Digital General Manager Jay Jennings said on the decision, “it’s honestly coming to a point, where the destructive nature of social media and how addictive it is, and the impacts on mental health are coming to a point where we can no longer ignore them.”
The company has confirmed it will remain on both Twitter and YouTube to remain in contact with its customers. When asked why both those platforms were chosen, Jennings told TDA, “it’s not necessarily a badge of approval [remaining on YouTube and Twitter]…but in terms of the addictive nature, especially for young people, platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, being very visually focused, and that infinite scroll element, that is the main thing we wanted to step away from.”
The policy will be rolled out in all 48 countries the company operates in. Lush has not specified if or when it will return to the platforms.