News that Urban Decay, the ethical beauty brand and recipient of numerous awards for its dedication to anti-animal testing is to expand into China has been met with a high level of criticism by the industry.
The make-up brand, which currently retails in the US and UK, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Singapore and the Middle East, has taken the controversial decision to enter a market where regulations currently require cosmetic products to be safety tested on animal before they are approved for use in the country. However, Urban Decay maintains that its dedication to this cause “will not waver”, and also hopes to continue its work on women’s rights.
So is it right for a brand, which actively promotes its policy against such testing methods to ‘sell out’? Urban Decay has said it is not the one doing the testing but surely this will affect its image in the eyes of ethical consumers? China represents the holy grail of retail for many brands but the Urban Decay debacle shows how carefully a brand must tread to prevent loosing its brand identity or worse still, alienating existing loyal consumers.