blacking out

Bath Bomb Company Lush to Delete Social Media Accounts

The social media pages will go dark on Friday.

Executives at the bath bomb company Lush announced this week that they will deactivate the brand’s social media—including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat accounts—in protest of the “serious effects social media” has on users’ mental health and wellbeing. According to a press release first reported by People, part of this decision was made in reaction to Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s testimony on Capitol Hill and a trove of documents leaked to The Wall Street Journal in October. Lush’s social media blackout will occur in all 48 states where the brand operates.

Lush UK previously quit Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram in 2019 due to challenges with the sites’ algorithm but returned to the platforms during the pandemic. Last year, Lush UK CEO Mark Constantine came under fire for donating products to cops in the middle of global protests against police brutality in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin. The Guardian reported that year that Lush Australia employees accused the brand of poor working conditions, including a lack of personal protective equipment during the height of the pandemic, injuries sustained on the job, and complains of sexual harassment that the company did not adequately investigate. Lush UK also apologized in 2020 for donating to a women’s charity viewed by advocates as anti-trans, adding that the brand donated around $2.1 million to various LGBT groups over the last five years.