The cosmetics company Lush announced it is deleting its social media accounts.

Lush, one of the UK's largest cosmetics retailers, deleted its Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat accounts globally last week, following accusations from former Facebook employee Frances Haugen against the social media platform.causing negative impactThis affects the mental health of teenagers. In a press release, the company stated: "Just as the fight against climate change has been ignored and downplayed for decades, concerns about the serious impact of social media are also being disregarded."

Lush's announcement to close its social media accounts comes during the biggest shopping event of the year (Black Friday), and the brand has fully considered the potential losses it will incur for its business in the future.

CEO Mark Constantine said that deleting the social media accounts cost the company £10 million, but he was extremely pleased to be able to move away from Facebook and other social media sites. According to The Guardian, Lush's Facebook and Instagram accounts had a combined 10.6 million followers.

Mark Constantine accepted this trade-off, and also stated in an interview with The Guardian that Lush "had no other choice" as Meta – the company behind Facebook and Instagram – was ignoring the negative impact of these two platforms on mental health among teenagers.

The cosmetics brand Lush has publicly expressed its views on various social issues in recent years. Previously, in 2019, Lush closed its Facebook and Instagram accounts due to "being too tired of battling algorithms," but the brand eventually returned to these social media platforms.

Many major advertisers boycotted Meta's Facebook and Instagram platforms in 2020 following the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a police officer. This incident went viral on social media and sparked protests and even riots in the US. Eventually, however, these advertisers returned to Facebook and Instagram after some time.

However, this time Lush has pledged not to use social media again. Mark Constantine stated, "We don't use it as a PR stunt; we do it for legitimate reasons. If we return to social media again, our brand will certainly become a laughing stock."

Khanh Ha