The Estee Lauder 'Counter-Boycott'

	What Price For Beauty?

Created 5/21/2002 (5/21/2002) Supporters of both sides in the Arab-Israeli conflict are regularly identifying companies that support the other side and calling for other supporters to boycott their products and services. In some cases, you get a chain like this one asking you to "counter-boycott" by taking your business to a brand that has been shunned by the other side.

SAMPLE CHAIN LETTER TEXT Dear Friends: Estee Lauder Corporation (which is also is the parent company of Prescriptives, Mac, Bobbie Brown, La Mer, Jo Malone, Origins, Aramis, Aveda and Bumble and Bumble) is being boycotted by a loud and ambitious campaign of the world's Arab and Muslim community due to Ron Lauder's (Estee Lauder's President) support for Israel. Mr. Lauder has been extremely courageous and public in his support for the Jewish State and has taken real personal and financial risks to inform the world of the war that the Palestinian Authority has declared on Israel and Jews worldwide. To combat this boycott I suggest that we all go out and buy as much Estee Lauder and Clinique products as possible. Make the Estee Lauder and Clinique counters your gift of choice. Switch brands at least for a while. It is said that beauty has many discomforts. So does supporting those who speak for us. PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW! LET'S SHOW THE ARABS THAT PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD WILL STAND TOGETHER. Ronnie Lauder is married to Jo Carol Knopf Lauder born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware. Her parents were humble Holocaust survivors! He also works undauntingly for the re-establishment of the Hungarian Jewish community. A good man! PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ON TO YOUR FRIENDS

END CHAIN LETTER TEXT

It's interesting that the chain letters used by both pro-Israeli and pro-Arab groups on this issue are virtually identical. Other companies have been targeted by both sides for their support of the other. Most of them are based on misinformation and erroneous assumptions, but this one seems to be mostly true.

The Arab boycott of Estee Lauder and Clinique products is real. It was created by American Moslems for Jerusalem in February, 2001, following a rally in Jerusalem in which Ron Lauder was a keynote speaker (Lauder has been a very visible supporter of Israeli causes for years).

Estee Lauder is not the only company targeted for its support of Israel, however. This site contains a comprehensive list of other companies targeted by Arab groups. Whether you decide to boycott the companies on the list, or to support them in a type of "counter-boycott" is up to you.

Break the Chain recommends against propagating e-mail boycott chains due to their intrinsic privacy failures and weaknesses as information tools. If you're wondering whether to support or counter a boycott you received, perhaps our Five Tests of Armchair Activism will help you decide.

Category: Armchair Activism
References: None