Anita Roddick

By 1991, the Body Shop had 700 branches, and Roddick was awarded the 1991 World Vision Award for Development Initiative.[9] In 1996 she told Third Way:

The original Body Shop was a series of brilliant accidents. It had a great smell, it had a funky name. It was positioned between two funeral parlours—that always caused controversy. It was incredibly sensuous. It was 1976, the year of the heatwave, so there was a lot of flesh around. We knew about storytelling then, so all the products had stories. We recycled everything, not because we were environmentally friendly, but because we didn't have enough bottles. It was a good idea. What was unique about it, with no intent at all, no marketing nous, was that it translated across cultures, across geographical barriers and social structures. It wasn't a sophisticated plan, it just happened like that.^[10]

In 1997, Roddick developed the Body Shop's most successful campaign ever, creating Ruby, the size 16 doll, who was thought to bear a passing resemblance to Barbie. The campaign evolved from positioning developed by ethical communications consultancy Host Universal. They created the image of the naked red-haired doll, hands behind her head and wind in her hair, that became the embodiment of the campaign. The photographer was Steve Perry.

By 2004, the Body Shop had 1980 stores, serving more than 77 million customers throughout the world. It was voted the second most-trusted brand in the United Kingdom, and 28th top brand in the world.^{[citation needed]}

On 17 March 2006, L'Oréal purchased Body Shop for £652 million.^[11] Some controversy and criticism was raised, as L'Oréal was known to use animal testing and the company was part-owned by Nestlé. The latter had been criticised for its treatment of third-world producers. Roddick addressed the issues directly in an interview with The Guardian. It reported that:

...she sees herself as a kind of '

Trojan horse' who by selling her business to a huge firm will be able to influence the decisions it makes. Suppliers who had formerly worked with the Body Shop will in future have contracts with L'Oréal, and whilst working with the company 25 days a year Roddick was able to have an input into decisions.^[11]

Roddick was known for her campaigning work on environmental issues and was a member of the advisory council for the think tank,

In the late 1990s, Roddick became involved in the case of the Angola Three, African-American men who had been held for more than two decades in solitary confinement at Louisiana State Penitentiary. She helped raise international awareness of their case and funds to support appeals of their flawed convictions.^[13]

On 13 December 2005, the National Post reported that Roddick had announced that she intended to use her fortune for philanthropy; it was estimated at £51 million ($104 million).^[11] This was before her sale of her business to L'Oreal.

Roddick wrote the book Take It Personally. She encouraged equality and an end to the exploitation of workers and children in underdeveloped countries.^[14]

After her death in 2007, her husband, Gordon Roddick, founded 38 Degrees in her memory. He said, "I knew what would make Anita really laugh would be to cause a lot of trouble."^[15]

Between 2009 and 2014, the Roddick Foundation gave four grants totalling £120,000 to

In 2015, the charity commission agreed to cease to interfere with charities' right to fund CAGE, if they wished, following a judicial review. The judicial review heard testimony that a British Cabinet Minister and US intelligence had applied pressure on the charity commission to investigate CAGE.[21]

Roddick was a close friend of

Roddick explained that her hepatitis C was unexpectedly diagnosed in 2004, following a blood test that was part of a medical examination needed for a life insurance policy. The blood test indicated abnormal liver function and subsequent blood tests diagnosed hepatitis C. Roddick explained that she had a large blood transfusion in 1971, after the birth of her younger daughter, and that she was convinced that the transfusion had infected her with hepatitis C. This was about twenty years before blood donors in the United Kingdom were screened for hepatitis C.

She reported that she had developed cirrhosis of the liver,^[25] and that her main symptoms were itching and poor concentration. She briefly mentioned that medical treatment with interferon did not suit her. Roddick explained that she kept fit and active, and that she attended biannual out-patient hospital appointments in Southampton, as well as being under review by the liver transplant team at the Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

Death

Roddick died of acute

Awards and honours

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• 1984 – Veuve Clicquot Businesses Woman of the Year
• 1988 – Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
• 1988 – Honorary Doctorate from the University of Sussex
• 1991 – Center for World Development Education's World Vision Award, USA
• 1993 – Banksia Foundation's Australia Environmental Award
• 1993 – Mexican Environmental Achiever Award
• 1993 – National Audubon Society Medal, USA
• 1994 – Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics, USA
• 1994 – University of Michigan's Annual Business Leadership Award, USA
• 1995 - University of Victoria, Honorary Doctorate, Canada
• 1995 – Women's Business Development Center's First Annual Woman Power Award, USA
• 1996 – Women's Center's Leadership Award, USA
• 1996 – The Gleitsman Foundation's Award of Achievement, USA
• 1997 – United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Honouree, Eyes on the Environment
• 1999 – Honorary Degree (Doctor of Laws) from the University of Bath^[27]
• 1999 – British Environment & Media Award
• 1999 – Chief Wiper-Away of Ogoni Tears, Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, Nigeria
• 2001 – International Peace Prayer Day Organisation's Woman of Peace
• 2003 – Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)^[28]
• 2004 – Honorary Doctorate of Public Service, The Sage Colleges
• 2005 –
  Shell liveWIRE survey of inspirational role models, third place after 1) Richard Branson 2) Friends/family 3) Anita Roddick 4) James Dyson 5) Sahar Hashemi
• 2006 – Spirit of the Rainforest Award, Rainforest Action Network

• The Body Shop Book – Macdonald, 1985 (
  ISBN 0-356-10934-8
  )
• Mamatoto: the Body Shop Celebration of Birth – Virago, 1991 (
  ISBN 1-85381-421-0
  )
• (with Russell Miller) – Body and Soul – Ebury Press, 1991 (
  ISBN 0-7126-4719-8
  )
• Take it personally: How Globalisation Affects You and Powerful Ways to Challenge It – Anita Roddick Books, 2004
• Troubled Water: Saints, Sinners, Truth and Lies about the Global Water Crisis – Anita Roddick Books, 2004 (with Brooke Shelby Biggs)
• Business as Unusual – Anita Roddick Books, 2005 (
  ISBN 0-9543959-5-6
  ) (Latest edition)