BOYCOTT UNILEVER

     Many household products are tested on animals before being sold to consumers.  Companies test both ingredients and finished products on animals.  The most commonly used tests are the Draize eye and skin irritancy tests and the Lethal dose tests.  These tests involve extreme pain and suffering.  Pain killers or anesthetics are not given to the animals during the tests, as they may interfere with the test results.

     The Lethal dose tests were developed in 1927 to roughly measure the toxicity of products through the use of live animals.  Animals are given a dose of a substance either orally or by a stomach tube, inhaled as a vapor, powder, or spray, dermally by application onto the skin or intravenously.  As many as several hundred animals may be used for every substance tested.  The dose at which 50% of the animals die is called the LD50, the dose at which 100% die is the LD100.

     In the Draize eye irritancy test, a toxic substance is dripped behind the lower eyelids of rabbits and the rabbits are observed for reactions to the substance.  The Draize skin irritancy test is similar but the substances are tested on the animals’ skin which is shaved and exposed to a dose of a product and then checked for signs of irritation such as redness or blistering.

     Testing is not required by law.   Some companies still test because they want to protect themselves from lawsuits from consumers who may have misused a product or had a reaction to it.

     Boycotts and letter-writing campaigns have influenced giants such as Colgate and Proctor & Gamble to stop using animal tests.  Almost 600 other companies have also stopped testing.  Unilever, however, continues to their products on animals.  It is critical that Unilever hears your opinion on this subject.  Please send a polite letter or e-mail telling them that you will boycott their products until they declare a moratorium on animal testing.  In addition, save your receipts from the purchases of cruelty-free products and send them to Unilever at 800 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 with a note saying "See what you’re missing!" or "If you’d stop testing on animals, my business could be yours".

E-mail Unilever by going to their site by clicking here and filling out their contact form

Print out a letter to Unilever

Call Unilever toll-free at 1-800-598-1223

E-mail this page to friends who will help.

For more detailed information on this campaign and to obtain a free list of companies that do and do not test on animals,
click here

For more detailed information on animal testing,
contact the
National Anti-Vivisection Society
or E-Mail them
or call them at 1-800-888-6287.