Gerade habe ich den Tweet von Gayle gelesen, indem sie auf Urban Decays Expandierung nach China berichtete und genauso wie ich ziemlich empört darüber ist. Ich kann das gerade noch gar nicht fassen und bin ziemlich traurig über UDs Entscheidung. Besonders weil Urban Decay immer eine meiner liebsten Marken war.

Gayle ist übrigens MakeUp Artist und betreibt ein englischsprachiges Cruelty Free-Blog. Ich stöbere bei ihr wahnsinnig gerne. Take a look on http://www.crueltyfreekit.com/ ヽ(´ー｀)ﾉ  Sie hat ebenfalls bereits auf ihrer Webseite ein Statement dazu abgegeben: http://www.crueltyfreekit.com/2012/06/urban-decay-no-longer-cruelty-free-allows-its-products-to-be-tested-on-animals-to-sell-in-china/

Urban Decays bisheriger Slogan: „We don’t do animal testing. How could anyone?“

URBAN DECAY & CHINA

Urban Decay is going to sell our products in China. Because of China’s policies on animal testing, we know that this will not be a popular decision with some of our loyal customers. But the decision is a thoughtful one.

For 16 years, we have been committed to two key causes: women’s rights, and the fight against animal testing. Our dedication to those causes will not waver.

For those of you unfamiliar with China’s policies, the sticking point is this: the Chinese government reserves the right to conduct animal testing with cosmetic products before the products are approved for use by Chinese citizens. The government has not told us if they have exercised this right with our products. So, our brand does not test on animals, but the Chinese government might conduct a one-time test using our products. Do we like China’s policies? No…and that is really the point. Going into China was a huge decision for Urban Decay. But, we believe that change cannot and will not happen by outside pressure alone in a closed market. Change can only happen from within. When we enter the Chinese market, we will do our part to help make those changes.

When we were considering expanding into China, a group of marketing consultants told us to remove the section of our company history that describes our crusade against animal testing. “It doesn’t mean anything to the Chinese beauty customer,” they said. Of course, we refused. Our “no animal testing” policy is part of who we are, and has been since day one. The news that animal issues don’t even register with the average Chinese consumer was one of the biggest factors in our decision to go there. During Urban Decay’s infancy, we worked hard to inform consumers about animal rights in the United States and Europe. The battleground for animal rights is now in China, and we want to be there to encourage dialogue and provoke change.

We also hope to shed some light on women’s rights issues in China. As a company that caters to a female customer, this is extremely important to us. For one thing, going into China is a way for us to advance women into important professional positions. We will help grow the cosmetics industry, which primarily employs and creates career paths for women. Although workers’ employment rights are a relatively new concept there, progress has been made partially because of pressure from businesses, consumers, and advocacy groups from other countries. Based on this, our belief is that both an outside force and inside pressure for change can result in helping transform both the importance of women and animal testing policies in China. And more importantly, we hope to influence the perspective of the citizens on both of these issues.

If we don’t go to China, other companies without our beliefs will, and the culture will never change. We want to encourage a culture of consumers who care enough to buy cruelty-free products, and who view professional women as role models who influence their lives on a daily basis.

Yes, we are a for-profit company. And yes, we would eventually like to make money in China. But we don’t stand to turn a profit in China for quite a while, partially because the market isn’t quite ready to sustain an untraditional brand like ours. If it were only about the money, we would wait a few years. But our foray into this market is also about participating in an amazing time of change in China. We don’t like animal testing (and neither do the 13 dogs in our office), but we are trying to change the world… even if it is one eye shadow at a time! Sitting on the sidelines isn’t our style. We understand that you might not like our decision, but we hope you can respect it.

Any editors or advocacy groups interested in interviews with Urban Decay founding partner Wende Zomnir may contact us at [email protected].

For any advocates or Urban Decay fans interested, Urban Decay founding partner Wende Zomnir will host a live chat in 2 weeks to answer questions about our entry into China. Please check back to this page for a confirmed day and time.

Quelle: http://www.urbandecay.com/Urban-Decay-China/Urban-Decay-in-China,default,pg.html ಥ_ಥ

Auf der Facebook-Seite von Urban Decay wird derweil reichlich diskutiert und auch Unmut Luft gemacht: https://www.facebook.com/urbandecaycosmetics/posts/252445838188526

Edit: Derweil hat auch „Leaping Bunny“/BUAV ein Statement dazu abgegeben. Quelle: http://leapingbunny.org/press6.php Hier ein Auszug:

„The Leaping Bunny Program, administered by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC), regrets to inform compassionate consumers who look for the Leaping Bunny Logo that Urban Decay is no longer certified as cruelty-free by the Leaping Bunny Program. The company has notified us that they have elected to sell their products in China, which, due to animal testing requirements in that country, will cause them to be in violation of our Corporate Standard of Compassion for Animals.

Concerned individuals may be aware that animal testing requirements implemented last year in China have caused other companies, such as Mary Kay, to be removed from the Leaping Bunny list due to similar concerns. And there may be more, as CCIC continually investigates reports of companies that may be a party to animal testing in order to sell in China.

The Leaping Bunny Program sets itself apart from other cruelty-free lists by reviewing companies’ adherence to a strict no animal testing standard and removing those companies that no longer comply. “The tragedy of this is that testing cosmetic products and ingredients on animals is cruel and unnecessary,” commented Sue Leary, Chair of CCIC. The certification program remains in dialogue with companies and other experts on the issue, and supports efforts to persuade Chinese officials to accept non-animal alternative test methods. „

Edit 11. Juli 2012: Urban Decay bleibt dem chinesischen Markt vorerst doch fern. Mehr dazu: Klick

The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics’ (CCIC) Leaping Bunny Program is pleased to announce that it has recertified Urban Decay as cruelty-free after the company made the decision to cancel plans to sell its products in China, a country that requires animal testing.

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