PETA Us Buys Revlon Stock In Effort To Uncover Animal Testing Policies

For Immediate Release:

5 September 2012

Contact:

Ben Williamson 020 7357 9229 ext 229; [email protected]

London — Is Revlon paying for tests that poison animals in China? The cosmetics giant has refused to answer this question, despite repeated attempts by PETA US to uncover the truth. Now, Revlon has to contend with PETA US as a stockholder.

The animal rights group has purchased stock in the New York–based company, which will allow PETA US to attend annual shareholder meetings and submit resolutions calling for transparency in Revlon’s animal testing policies. The company’s refusal to state whether it is paying for these deadly tests—which the Chinese government currently requires for almost all cosmetics products marketed there—means it stays off the Humane Cosmetics Standard (HCS) list of companies that do not test on animals.

“Since Revlon won’t come clean to consumers, maybe they’ll answer a shareholder,” says PETA UK Associate Director Mimi Bekhechi. “If the company is breaking its 1989 ban on poisoning animals, then PETA US will find out in the boardroom, if necessary, and then shout it from the rooftop.”

Companies whose decision to pay for animal tests in China caused them to backslide off Humane Cosmetics Standard’s list of cruelty-free companies include Avon, Mary Kay, and Estée Lauder. Paul Mitchell and Urban Decay, by contrast, have publicly refused to market in China as long as animal tests are required there.

Animals used in cosmetics tests have harsh chemicals dripped into their eyes and rubbed into their raw, abraded skin. When the experiments are over, the animals are killed. Non-animal tests are cheaper, faster, and more reliable. Scientists partially funded by PETA US are currently working with the Chinese government to have these superior, cruelty-free tests accepted in China, where the country’s approval of the first non-animal tests for cosmetics ingredients is pending.

For more information about animal testing for cosmetics, please visit PETA.org.uk.

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