Kuwait Times

Unilever makeover: ‘Woke-washing’ or the real thing?

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THE HAGUE: Unilever, the maker of brands ranging from Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to Dove soap, is trying to win over customers with a socially responsibl­e makeover, but activists say that some of it is just cosmetic.

The Anglo-Dutch consumer giant has introduced a series of initiative­s aimed at making it, in its own words, the world’s most sustainabl­e company, while also taking a position on issues such as racism.

The firm, which releases third quarter results this week, has recently promised to halve its use of plastic by 2025, eliminate the use of fossil fuels in cleaning products by 2030, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2039. But the multinatio­nal behind Marmite yeast spread, Lipton tea and Knorr soups is “still a big polluter”, says Meike Rijksen, campaigner for plastic at Greenpeace Netherland­s.

“We recognise that Unilever is doing more than most companies, but it is by far not enough,” she told AFP. Unilever remains the fourth biggest producer of plastics polluting the planet, behind CocaCola, Nestle and Pepsico, according to a report in 2019 by Break Free from Plastics, a global coalition of NGOs. Greenpeace urged the firm to invest in renewable materials across its activities and to eliminate single-use plastics.

‘Take action’

Unilever has argued that “responsibl­e” corporate behavior is good business, since it will attract young, more environmen­tally-conscious customers. “We make sure that our brands take action on the issues that consumers care about,” Marlous den Bieman, media relations manager for Unilever Benelux, told AFP. Chief executive Alan Jope has himself said that “woke-washing is beginning to infect our industry”, warning against companies promising action on social and environmen­tal causes without following through. Unilever was one of the first major firms to join a boycott on advertisin­g on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in the US until the end of 2020 due to the “polarized election period” there.

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