🧼🔥 "If You Don't Support Gaza, Don't Shop Here," says Founder of LUSH. I Wish Every Business Would Follow His Lead.

Mark Constantine shut stores in solidarity with starving Palestinians—and told opponents to take their money elsewhere

For over two years now, the world has watched Gaza be starved, bombed, and crushed—while most major brands hide behind safe language and silence. That’s why what Lush did—and what its founder just said—hit me like a jolt. It’s rare to see a CEO speak with moral clarity instead of corporate cowardice.

Before I break this down, I want to ask you from the heart to become a member today. I keep this work free for the world—for readers in Gaza, for students in public schools, for families in deep poverty, for elders on fixed incomes—because a smaller circle of people who can afford it chooses to carry some of the cost. If that’s you, please click here to become a member and click here to join as a monthly, annual, or founding member. Your support keeps this work free for them, and even for you when you can’t afford to pay.

Now let me tell you what Lush’s founder said—and why I wish a hundred other brands would copy him tomorrow.

Mark Constantine—Lush’s co-founder—was asked what he thinks about customers who oppose his stance on Gaza and decide not to shop at Lush because of it. His answer wasn’t the usual corporate dance. He didn’t beg for neutrality. He didn’t pretend “both sides” are equal. He didn’t say, “We respect all viewpoints.”

He said, “You shouldn’t come into my shop.”

And then he explained why with a blunt honesty that made me respect him even more. He told people, essentially, that if they give him profits, he’s going to do more of the very activism they claim to hate—so if that bothers them, they should absolutely take their money elsewhere.

That is the exact opposite of how most CEOs behave.

Most executives will take your money, fund whatever they want behind the scenes, and then act offended when anyone asks them to show a spine. They want the profits without the consequences. They want to appear “values-driven” without ever being tested by those values.

Constantine didn’t do that. He told the truth: your money is political whether you admit it or not. If you buy from brands that stay silent while children starve, you are still making a choice. If you buy from brands that speak out, you’re still making a choice. There is no neutral shopping cart.

And I want to underline what Lush actually did. In September, Lush shut its UK stores and closed its website for a day in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza facing starvation. They put messages in their windows that read: “Stop starving Gaza, we are closed in solidarity.” They also published a statement saying they shared the anguish millions of people feel seeing images of starving people in Gaza.

That is not a perfect action that solves everything. It is a signal. A refusal. A break from the corporate herd.

And in a time when Gaza has been turned into a place where children can be reduced to statistics and adults can be erased with language, signals matter. Public stands matter. Refusing to normalize starvation matters.

Here’s what I especially appreciated about his framing: he said compassion isn’t “left wing.” He said being kind, sympathetic, and compassionate shouldn’t be treated like a partisan position. He’s right. Feeding the hungry isn’t a political party. Refusing to starve a population isn’t an ideology. It’s basic human decency.

And if you’re a person of faith—Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or anything else—this should hit even deeper. Our scriptures don’t allow us to watch children starve and shrug. They don’t allow us to see suffering and hide behind “staying out of politics.” They don’t allow us to profit while people are being crushed.

So yes, I’m saying it plainly: I hope other brands follow Lush. Not with performative posts. Not with vague statements. With action that costs them something. With language that refuses to tiptoe around starvation.

Because what Gaza has exposed—over and over—is that a lot of companies have no problem taking money from anyone, then using silence as a shield while the world burns.

Lush did something different.

And Constantine did something even rarer: he told people who oppose that compassion to take their business elsewhere.

That’s what it looks like when a company understands that values aren’t decoration—they are direction.

If you want more writing like this—clear, direct, and unbought—please stand with me. Please click here to become a member and click here to join as a monthly, annual, or founding member. I keep this work free for the world, but I can only do that if some of you decide to carry it.

Love and appreciate each of you.
Your friend and brother,
Shaun

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