Hassela Press release

June 7 1999
KPMG tries to boost reputation of Body Shop’s founder?

In the latest issue of the Scandinavian Airlines ‘Scanorama’ magazine, KPMG has a ‘Special Advertising Supplement’ with a headline stating that "Environmental and ethical arguments build stronger trademarks and put new light on auditing".

There is nothing spectacular about that statement. It might be a new phenomenon to KPMG but any responsible company has practised that for years.

However, what is spectacular about the advertising supplement is KPMG´s ill-disguised praise of the advocate of legalisation of cannabis, Body Shop’s founder Anita Roddick.

In the advertising supplement, KPMG states that "In addition to the auditing of environmental performance, a further dimension has been introduced into the debate. This concerns questions of moral, ethical and social responsibility, and they are given the same dignity as finance and the environment. The collective concept here is ‘sustainability reporting’, which includes social performance as well as a company’s financial and environmental performance. The leading auditing and consulting company KPMG has initiated a unique co-operation in Great Britain with the cosmetics company The Body Shop International. Body Shop is known for its activities in the field of social auditing, and under the management of Professor David Wheeler one of their groups is now working together with KPMG in this field. The service is called Sustainability Advisory Services. KPMG Consulting has also formed a group in Sweden that offers Sustainability Advisory Services in this field."

We realise that the Body Shop and KPMG both want to make money. However, we would like to draw the attention to the fact that the founder of Body Shop, Anita Roddick, is in favour of legalisation of cannabis. She was one of the first signatories to The Independent’s, (a British paper), call for legalisation of cannabis.

Ms. Roddick is said to fight for improvement of the environment. If that’s the case, we would like to remind her of the fact that fighting for a better environment should include improvement of external as well as internal environments. Is the internal pollution of THC compatible with a credible fight to improve the environment or is Roddick just caring about the external environment?

Demands for legalisation of cannabis is not an example of moral, ethical and social responsibility. On the contrary, it shows a clear lack of moral, ethical and social responsibility. Now, this doesn’t seem to disturb anybody at the Body Shop or KPMG. It’s business as usual.

Give it a thought before you consider using the ‘services’ of Body Shop or KPMG, which presents itself as "the global advisory firm whose aim is to turn knowledge into value for the benefit of its clients, its people and its communities." How very touching.

In a ‘Message from the Chairman’, KPMG chairman Colin M. Sharman states that "New challenges demand new solutions. Global competition and information technology are creating a new dimension of client needs which require a new type of business advisor - an integrated team of specialists who combine industry expertise with functional knowledge."

You bet Mr. Sharman. If Body Shop intends to expand its production of their ‘Hemp Series’, they will most certainly face the need of "creating a new dimension of client needs which require a new type of business advisor."