Animal welfare charity, Naturewatch Foundation, has asked ethical supermarkets and online stores to remove Ecover and Method from their stock because of their acquisition by SC Johnson earlier this year. Previously both brands were approved as cruelty-free in the foundations “Compassionate Shopping Guide” but have since had their endorsement revoked.1
“Ecover and Method, collectively known as People Against Dirty, have always been marketed as cruelty-free. In contrast, SC Johnson openly admits to testing on animals during the development of its household products.
Sales of Ecover and Method products will now boost the profits of their new parent company and help fund animal tests.
In April, thousands of emails were sent to Ecover and Method after Naturewatch Foundation asked supporters to contact People Against Dirty and express their disappointment at the acquisition. The campaign also triggered a strong reaction on social media.”2
Ecover and Method quickly responded by stating that they didn’t test on animals ( but they cannot deny that their customers’ purchases will now support animal testing). So, Naturewatch requested that Ecover and Method influence SC Johnson from within but they responded by saying, “It’s early days in our new relationship and we are just getting to know each other so it’s difficult to predict the future in any detail.”3
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Caroline Ruane, CEO of Naturewatch Foundation said,
“People Against Dirty’s response was non-committal, which was a huge disappointment to loyal and long-standing customers. Fortunately, most of them have already found effective alternatives that don’t contribute to animal testing in any way. We hope that Ecover and Method will eventually agree to persuade SC Johnson to review their policy, thereby preventing the unnecessary suffering of thousands of animals.”4
On June 12th, the second phase of the #PeopleAgainstAnimalTests campaign launched.
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Click here to support the campaign by sending an email to ethical retailers.
