Unilever has also been scrutinized for their contribution to
major environmental issues. Greenpeace launched a campaign in 2008, demanding
Unilever to take responsibility for the destruction of the Indonesian
rainforests; caused by the use of palm oil in their products—targeting Dove in
particular.
Although palm oil is found in a majority of skin care
products from Unilever and other companies, according to Greenpeace (2008),
Unilever is one of the biggest buyers of palm oil.
It appears that Greenpeace targeted Dove because
of their strong positioning as being a “wholesome” brand, standing up for
women’s causes. This made them an easy target, to expose the fact that this
“conscientious” product is actually a major contributor of deforestation. Greenpeace
used a satirical approach to their campaign by using Dove’s campaign for real
beauty to bring awareness to the deforestation in Indonesia. 
Greenpeace’s clever campaign proved to be very successful,
because in just two weeks time enough public pressure built-up and Unilever
responded (Greenpeace 2008). Unilever decided
to take action by supporting Greenpeace in the fight against deforestation.
Unilever agreed to an immediate suspension on deforestation for palm oil in
South East Asia (Greenpeace 2008). Unilever will utilize their influence in the
industry to assertively build a coalition of companies to support the
moratorium, as well as putting pressure on their suppliers (Greenpeace 2008).
Additionally, they agreed to lobby the Indonesian government in order to gain
more support towards the immediate suspension of deforestation (Greenpeace
2008).
While Unilever is guilty of being a
major contributor to the deforestation in Indonesia, due to the purchasing of large
quantities of palm oil, they are certainly not the only company. Palm oil is
found in a multitude of skin care products and many companies are guilty of
contributing to the deforestation. However, Dove was targeted for Greenpeace’s
campaign to bring awareness to this environmental issue. Although this created
negative media for Dove, Unilever was very reactive in responding to
Greenpeace. This demonstrated their willingness to cooperate and take
initiative in supporting this cause, which in turn generated a more positive
brand image. Within two weeks of the initial launch of the campaign against
Dove, Unilever had agreed to take proactive measures to fight for the cause. This creates positive attention for Unilever, because now they are featured on
the Greenpeace website as being proactive in the cause.
L.M
References:
Greenpeace International. (2009) Public pressure for
Indonesia's forests works, Ask Unilever. Retrieved November 12, 2013 from http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/forests/asia-pacific/dove-palmoil-action/
Tracy. (2008)Greenpeace International. Unilever takes the
lead to stop deforestation in Indonesia. Retrieved November 12, 2013 from http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate/unilever-takes-the-lead-to-stop-deforestation-in-indonesia-20080515
Hill, E. (2008). Greenpeace International. Stop Dove
destroying forests for palm oil.
Retrieved November 12, 2013 from http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/multimedia/photos/stop-dove-destroying-forests-f/
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