| Shark Savers and Lush Cosmetics joined forces to fight shark fin soup in Hong Kong |
| Written by Shark Savers |
| Monday, 20 June 2011 14:58 |
|
As the world’s shark populations are forced towards the brink of extinction due to global demand for shark fin soup and other shark products, Shark Savers and Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics joined together to bring the message of sharks to the people of Hong Kong. The first two weeks of June saw an intense pace of shark conservation activities by Shark Savers in concert with Lush. Each of Lush’s 12 stores in Hong Kong and Macau pushed Shark Savers’ pro-shark message by asking customers to sign postcards to the government of Hong Kong, urging them to ban shark fin soup and products in the municipality. The Shark Savers’ ‘I pledge not to eat shark fin soup’ videos were playing in both English and Cantonese in each store. Thousands of people signed the Shark Savers ‘pledge’ postcards. Shark Savers volunteers in Hong Kong worked so hard and so well to make this event a success. Led by our Hong Kong and Asia leader, Jonn Lu, some volunteers even took time off from work, while others provided much of their available free time, uncompensated, to assist in this important event. See 'the thank you note'. We were also fortunate to have an articulate and charismatic team of celebrity ambassadors for this campaign: Master Chef Jacky Yu, Singer Chan Man Ting, Actress Sharon Kwok and Model / Actress Phoebe Hui. They joined Jonn, Lush’s Leonie Davies, performance artist Alice Newstead, and PangeaSeed’s Tre Packard for the June 14th press launch. As can be seen by the impressive list of news stories generated by the event (below), we certainly ‘stirred the bowl’ in Hong Kong. About 80% of the local news media covered the event, as well as some international channels such as CNN. The message about shark fin soup got out, loudly and convincingly. In a dramatic illustration of how sharks are caught on longlines to be killed for their fins, Lush employee and performance artist Alice Newstead had her skin pierced with shark hooks and was suspended from scaffolding in a local arts and cultural center. You can see pictures and video in the press reports. As dramatic as this image was, we are glad to say that the performance did not overshadow its purpose: getting word out on the plight of sharks. See the press coverage, including images of Alice while hung with hooks. The press conference kicked off a shark art exhibition that ran at the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre from June 14th to 19th. The art exhibit featured works from internationally renowned underwater photographers who are associated with Shark Savers. Contributors included Eric Cheng, John “Chip” Scarlett, Douglas David Seifert, Jim Abernethy, Shawn Heinrichs, Danielle Heinrichs, Mary O’Malley, Robert Lupo Dion, Michael Aw, Alex Hofford, Paul Hilton, and Ila France Porcher. PangeaSeed also provided shark-themed artwork from: David Kinsey, Brad Klausen, Nao Harada, Natsuki Wakita, George Hayashi, Rhys Cooper, Kozyndan, Ben Wilson, Arik Roper, John Fellows and Silent Giants. Lush is supporting Shark Savers and together we are urging the public to take personal action in the fight to save sharks by pledging not to eat shark fin soup. Lush has also created a new product especially for the campaign, Shark Fin Soap, which is a blue soap made with seaweed and sea salt with a cardboard shark fin sticking out the top. All proceeds from the limited edition soap will go to support the programs of Shark Savers. More about Lush Cosmetics:Since establishing 16 years ago, Lush Cosmetics has been driven by innovation and its ethics. Creators of pioneering beauty products such as the fizzing bath ballistic, shower jellies and solid shampoo bars. Lush places emphasis on fresh ingredients like organic fruits and vegetables. Lush operates a strict policy against animal testing and supports Fair Trade and Community Trade initiatives. Lush leads the cosmetics industry in combating over-packaging by running public awareness campaigns and developing products that can be sold ‘naked’ to the consumer without any packaging. Lush has been awarded the RSPCA Good Business Award for 2006 and 2007, the 2006 PETA Trailblazer Award for Animal Welfare and the International Fund for Animal Welfare ‘Business of the Year’ award for 2010. Co-founders Mark and Mo Constantine were awarded OBEs for services to the beauty industry in the new years honours list 2010. Lush currently has over 700 shops worldwide and are present in 46 countries, with manufacturing sites across the world. We are also participating in Hong Kong’s Diving and Resort Travel Show (DRT), July 8-10. Some of the media coverage:CNN international's Eco Solution on "Protest on behalf of sharks" Apple Daily – NewsOriental Daily – News & Entertainment Sun Daily – News & Entertainment Some very impressive photos in different languageshttp://blog.panorama.it/foto/2011/06/14/appesa-per-la-pelle-protesta-shock-per-salvare-gli-squali/ http://us.foto.vivanews.com/read/3596-aksi-menentang-pembantaian-hiu BlogsTheZtyle: Yahoo Blog: Fashion & Beauty Blog Spot: She Blog: 做Blogger More:http://prochats.she.com/kanix/?p=766 |
