The cosmetics chain LUSH, known for its bath bombs and “activist” branding, is making waves again, this time in Anchorage’s 5th Ave. Mall. A sign posted at its storefront declares: “ICE Free Zone. We believe in freedom of movement of all people across the world — no exceptions.”
No exceptions, as in criminal cartels coming and going as they please? No exceptions, as in terrorist cells? Human trafficking?
The bold statement leaves little to the imagination: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency tasked with enforcing immigration laws and combating human trafficking, drug smuggling, and other crimes, is explicitly unwelcome. What that means in practice is anyone’s guess, but it amounts to a retail chain pretending it can ban federal law enforcement from entering its space.
LUSH, a UK-based company that has long wrapped itself in left-wing politics, takes a similarly radical stance on its website. The company identifies its manufacturing plants as being on “unceded territories” of Indigenous peoples and insists that it operates in “allyship” with them to “repair past harm.” The company also uses its platform to promote a host of activist causes, including anti-Israel positions, that have nothing to do with soap or shampoo.
For many shoppers, the Anchorage store’s militant politics may come as an unpleasant surprise. Families headed to the mall to pick up gifts or skincare products are greeted not with a welcoming brand but with a sign that signals hostility toward law enforcement. The statement not only dismisses ICE, but by implication, dismisses the idea of national borders altogether.
What ICE agents must think of a cosmetics store purporting to bar them is another matter. Federal officers do not need a retailer’s permission to enforce the law. But the performative gesture signals a broader trend: companies like LUSH increasingly see themselves not as merchants but as platforms for progressive ideology, even when it risks alienating a large swath of customers — and risks attracting attention from law enforcement.
Wondering what the lease with the Mall ownership says relative to the stand the tenant is taking?????
When I saw they were a UK based brand, that was all I needed to know, because the British lefties are even crazier than ours. That’s okay…how long have they been there? Well, not for much longer…go woke, go broke.
Never heard of LUSH but now that I know about them, they will never see me as a customer.