PETA Becomes Part Owner of Revlon

For more than two decades, Revlon was a member of PETA’s Caring Consumer program and refused to allow animals to be poisoned, burned, and blinded in tests of its products. But the company is now on the “Do Test” list after Revlon started selling products in China where animal tests are required for most cosmetics. Although PETA has asked Revlon numerous times to come clean about whether it is paying for animal tests overseas, the company won’t say—which, to us, says it all. We are now stepping up our involvement with Revlon in a very different way—we’re headed to the company’s boardroom.

We bought stock in the company because as shareholders, we can demand transparency about animal testing activity and also work in yet another way to get the tests stopped.

We’ve also set up an action alert that our supporters can use to e-mail Revlon and tell the company that consumers have a right to know whether its makeup is being tested on animals. Supporters can then tell everyone they know not to buy Revlon products until the company cleans up its act.

Many compassionate companies, including Paul Mitchell and Urban Decay, have held true to their cruelty-free principles and will not sell their products in China because they do not believe in funding animal tests. PETA is helping to fund scientists working with China to help the country institute non-animal tests, and until those tests are available, Revlon should pull its cosmetics off Chinese shelves, too. In the meantime, conscientious consumers can shop from a long list of companies on PETA’s cruelty-free list that don’t harm animals at home or abroad.