CSR - pressure group forces a change at PG Tips

A good example of the link between pressure groups and corporate social responsibility here.  Unilever is the owner of PG Tips - the global market-leading brand in the tea industry.  The Independent reports that PG Tips has agreed to stop testing its teas on animals, after activists threatened to launch a name-and-shame publicity campaign to highlight the company’s experiments on rabbits, rats and pigs.

If the claims of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) are true, then many people may feel that Unilever scientists were doing some pretty unpleasant things to animals as they searched for an improved USP for the tea brand.  Unilever were faced with the threat of a social media-based campaign which they could probably have done without!  Their decision to end animal testing is a result of their CSR strategy of “environmental sustainability and ethical sourcing of tea.”.  A good and topical case study example for students researching CSR for BUSS4 and other exam units.

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