Purpose Washing

“Making sustainable living commonplace for 8 billion people” was Unilever’s purpose statement as of October 2023.

Here is my comment on the LinkedIn page of the Purpose-Driven Academy: “Unilever’s wide products range from Foods and Refreshments, Home Care, and Beauty & Personal Care has a massive negative environmental and social impact.”

“From the dairy and animal industries to hydrogenated fats, artificial colors and sugars, flavors, and preservatives, “making sustainable living commonplace” for all earthlings, today does seem still very far from reality.”

“How many planets would we need if 8 billion people would consume such an amount of toxic products?”

Alan Jope, Unilever’s Former CEO from 2019 to 2023 onece said:

“Brands without a purpose will have no long-term future with Unilever”

Under his tenure shares gained just over 10%, recovering from a four year low.

The current CEO, Hein Schumacher, who was previously the CEO of the Dutch dairy co-operative FrieslandCampina – not a good sign – said (Financial Times, 5 February, “Has corporate purpose lost its purpose?”):

“corporate purpose was an unwelcome distraction for some brands”

He refocused strategy on growth, productivity and “performance culture”. So the new and current purpose statement is: “Brighten everyday life for all.” (2024)

While Unilever touts this purpose, there is a jarring disconnect between aspiration and reality. Unilever’s purpose sounds noble.

But are plastic-laden products, globally distributed in unsustainable packaging, and detergents contributing to pollution truly “brightening” lives?

Is animal testing a beacon of everyday joy?

The cognitive dissonance is deafening.

There is a huge missed opportunity to reinvent product ideation, retail, and distribution, but short-term profits prevail over long-term vision, so everyone is losing as a species while Unilever’s stakeholders celebrate.