‘Anti-spy cops’

Lush Campaign 2018

About the company
Lush is a cosmetics retailer; their headquarters in
Poole, Dorset, UK. The company was founded by
Mark Constantine, a Trichologist, and Liz Weir, a
beauty therapist, who met in a hair and beauty
salon in Poole. A few years after this, they decided
to branch out and start their own business selling
natural hair and beauty products. Lush is a very
ethical company, with strong views against animal
testing and environmental damage. All of their
products are tested on humans, and are !00%
vegetarian/ vegan and cruelty free.
 What are
the aims
and
objectives
of the
campaign?
#spycops
According to Lush, this campaign is not about the real police work done by those front line
officers who support the public every day - it is about a controversial branch of political
undercover policing that ran for many years before being exposed.

The campaign is to highlight this small and secretive subset of undercover policing that
undermines and threatens the very idea of democracy. There is an age old understanding
that our government and public institutions are there to protect and preserve the rights and
safety of the public. In the case of these secretive undercover units, their work went well
beyond the boundaries of acceptable police tactics and is now the subject of an ongoing
public inquiry, which was instigated by Theresa May during her time as Home Secretary
when the scale and scope of the breaches of protocols started to become clear.
#spycops
The aims and objectives of this campaign are easily overlooked. At a first glance it could be
seen that Lush are criticizing the British forces, and are ungrateful for the effort and bravery
they display on a daily basis. This however couldn’t be further from the truth. This campaign
aims to keep this specific scandal current, to ensure that one opportunity for full honesty
and disclosure is not lost are squandered. They believe that all citizens should be concerned
when human rights are abandoned by those in power. Several women were deceived into
long-term relationships with police spies and the police themselves have admitted that that
these actions were "a violation of the women’s human rights, an abuse of police power and
caused significant trauma”. Without full disclosure there is no way of knowing the full extent
of what happened during the dark years of this renegade secret policing operation - and that
full disclosure might not happen unless the public demand it. And so ultimately, this is why
Lush launched this campaign.
What platforms have they
advertised on?
#spycops
Advertising Platforms
Article on Website

Lush published a blog style article on their website in

which they explained the scandal, supported activists,
and interviewed those most affected e.g. woman
deceived into relationships by police spies.

Petition postcards in store

Another advertising platform was that Lush stocked

postcards addressed to the Uk’s home secretary (Sajid
Javid), in their stores, which members of the public could
sign, in order to call for the enquiry to be extended .
#spycops
Advertising Platforms
Displays in shop window

One of the most noticeable advertising platforms in this

entire campaign, where the displays put in Lush shop
windows across the UK. These included, photographs of
the accuse, the hashtag, and quotes such as ‘spied on for
taking a stand’.

Viral video

Lush produced a very powerful viral video depicting the

reality for these activists, and the trauma the police have
put them through simply for taking a stand. This video
was distributed on the company's Twitter and Facebook
pages.
#spycops
Target audience
According to lush, the UK general public are
the target audience of the campaign,
specifically those aged between 16 and 45.
Not only is this the Lush customer
demographic, but also those likely to be
most affected by this scandal. It could also
be argued that the government are being
targeted as the company is particularly
trying to engage and involve the home
secretary.
How have they tried to hook the audience
in?
The main aspect of this campaign that hooks the audience in the raw controversy and
honesty of it. It is very rare in today’s society to see a big name brand getting involved in
something so political- let alone display a huge biased on it.

The viral video is particularly shocking, as actors display what was a reality for some women
deceived by these police spies. The drama of this production and the harsh reality it brings
to light really makes you question the whole topic and definitely hooks the audience in.

The petition postcards in Lush stores have also shown how Lush are trying to hook the
audience in. They get the general public to become actively involved in the campaign and so
they feel as if they are really contributing- hooking them in further.