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Picture from Waterloo Tube Station, London, England 

“To dedicate our business to the pursuit of social and environmental change.”
~Anita Roddick’s mission statement for The Body Shop, 1942-2007

Though it may seem effeminate for a straight male to be interested in The Body Shop, the reading I’ve done for my thesis has generated a true belief that corporate social responsibility was possible for any business. Dame Anita Roddick led the charge into the cosmetic industry, proving there was room for change in using market power for good.

This evening, Dame Anita passed away from a massive hemorrhage, but left behind a testament to responsible product development, the intent of true altruism, and the means by which product can be socially marketed to the social consumer.  She was the embodiment of CSR–an activist by all means–well before CSR was even a fashionable subject.  And yet, her sale of the Body Shop to L’Oreal was thought by some as a betrayal of her ideals.

I haven’t been around the cosmetics industry and my CSR knowledge is, in reality, limited. However, I have a girlfriend and I’ve been in the Body Shop stores enough times to have seen Dame Anita’s positive impact on anti-animal testing, on fair trade products, on AIDS research, and on sustainable business. I may not have the activist spirit that she had, but her business is a legacy to her interests; her unrecanting value model is to those who are looking to be social entrepeneurs.

Dame Anita Roddick dies at 64 - FT.com
Activist who inspired a business generation - FT.com
Don’t get a business degree, get angry - Commentary by Anita Roddick - FT.com
The Body Shop International tribute

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I went to bed last night reading about how the most famous tenor of the 20th century, Luciano Pavarotti had worsened in health in the last day or so.

I got to work this morning to find my FT headlines already publishing his obituary.

While I may not be the greatest opera fan in the world, I’ve always understood the importance of those who make great contributions to the music artform.  No one would deny his beard and giant stature made him instantly recognizable, even if his voice was what brought fame upon him.

Lots of people say that he brought opera into the mainstream with his work in the Three Tenors, or their performance at the 1990 World Cup.  For me, it was his work on Sesame Street that got me to recognize him at such an early age.

Opera may not maintain the popularity it had 400 years ago, but Pavarotti made it relevant to today, both with his talent and his publicity.

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