Take a Leap, Shop Compassionately！

 

Leaping Bunny

The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics’ (CCIC) Leaping Bunny Program administers a cruelty-free standard and the internationally recognized Leaping Bunny Logo for companies producing cosmetic, personal care, and household products. The Leaping Bunny Program provides the best assurance that no new animal testing is used in any phase of product development by the company, its laboratories, or suppliers.

How leaping bunny works?

Companies certified through the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics' (CCIC) Leaping Bunny Program make a voluntary pledge to eliminate animal testing from all stages of product development. The companies’ ingredient suppliers make the same pledge and the result is a product guaranteed to be 100 percent free of new animal testing. All Leaping Bunny companies must recommit to the program annually and be willing to submit to an independent audit.

Social cause

Animal testing means using non-human animals in experiments). It can be used in research such as genetics, developmental biology, behavioral studies, as well as applied research such as biomedical research, xenotransplantation, drug testing and toxicology tests, including cosmetics testing. Most animals are euthanized after being used in an experiment.

The ethical questions and viewpoints about whether we should conduct animal testing have shifted significantly over the 20th century. The dominant ethical position worldwide is that achievement of scientific and medical goals using animal testing is desirable, so long as animal suffering and use is minimized. While some minority viewpoints exist which said animals had moral rights (animal rights). Tom Regan argues that animals are beings with beliefs and desires, and as such are the "subjects of a life" with moral value and therefore moral rights.

Cosmetics testing on animals are particularly controversial. Such tests, which are still conducted in the U.S., involve general toxicity, eye and skin irritancy, photo toxicity (toxicity triggered by ultraviolet light) and mutagen city.

By 1996, ‘cruelty-free’ shopping had become popular, but it was also confusing, sometimes misleading, and ultimately frustrating. Companies had begun designing their own bunny logos, abiding by their own definition of ‘cruelty-free’ or ‘animal friendly’ without the participation of animal protection groups.

Impact

In response, eight national animal protection groups banded together to form the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC). The CCIC promotes a single comprehensive standard and an internationally recognized Leaping Bunny Logo. We are working with companies to help make shopping for animal-friendly products easier and more trustworthy.

Cosmetics testing are banned in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the UK. In 2002, after 13 years of discussion, the European Union (EU) agreed to phase in a near-total ban on the sale of animal-tested cosmetics throughout the EU from 2009, and to ban all cosmetics-related animals testing. France, which is home to the world's largest cosmetics company, L'Oreal, has protested the proposed ban by lodging a case at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, asking that the ban be quashed. The ban is also opposed by the European Federation for Cosmetics Ingredients, which represents 70 companies in Switzerland, Belgium, France, Germany and Italy.

 “Animal activists are urging New Zealand to sign on to a global plan to end cosmetic testing on animals. Cruelty Free International says several countries, including China, have already announced non-animal testing.”¹

Workings

Leaping Bunny provides two aspects of services: service for companies and service for service. Companies can apply for this logo. When they pass the review, they can use the logo of leaping bunny to show that they don’t use animal testing in all the steps. For customers, they can choose product without animal testing from the compassionate shopping guide that leaping bunny provided.

Our Vedio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN_KLwOw8PA

Analysis

In our video, we want to persuade Hong Kong people to use cosmetics without animal-testing. To begin with, we have deep thoughts in what rhetorical strategies should we have to do the persuasion. This should be analyzed through three dimensions: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos.

Ethos, actually, is characteristics we have in persuading people. We considered authority at first, Leaping Bunny Program belongs to CCIC which has wide influence among customers, but we don’t want to use authority to force people, we still believe that Similarity and Empathy which are our advantages can influence people in more friendly and more peaceful ways. Also, we want to establish a common goal - eliminating animal testing from all stages of product development – with cosmetic companies and have a shared vision – protecting animals from testing – with customers.

Besides, there are two dimensions in reflecting our ethos, Assertiveness and Likable/EI. Because we’ve already had wide influence around the world, so we have strong belief that we can affect more and more people to resist animal testing. The assertiveness should be high. At the same time, our good reputation convince customers of trusting the products labeled our logo. The likable/EI characteristic also is high.

Therefore, ethos to some extent influence our decision in logos. First of all, we want to keep our message simple and comprehensive, so that customers will have a deep impression on it and remember it easily. So there are not many sentences in our video. Simple words, profound significance!! Secondly, we use some animal-testing pictures to highlight how cruel for the animals to take these so-called tests. The large numbers of pictures are aim at shocking people by exposing the reality behind thousands of cosmetics. By using Salience, the audience will feel more than ordinary sympathy for the animals, the responsibility of protecting animals will be aroused by these bloody pictures. Furthermore, we put contrast logos in our video, the contrast between human beings’ beautiful life and animals’ painful life. The striking contrast let people know their beauties are at the cost of animal’s short life. Also, the repetition of these pictures double the regrettable feelings of audience. Finally, the most important logos we have is analogies, which imagine human beings are being tested instead of animals. What we try to do is alarming people that animals have the same rights with people, if you feel hurt, animals will have same feelings. Analogies can display a situation that allow people put themselves think for animals and realize the brutality of animal testing, so that they will be persuaded and take action to support animal-friendly products.

In order to make our persuasion communicate to the audience directly and avoid distortion, we also need to know our audience (Pathos), in other words, have deep insight of Hong Kong culture that enable them to have connection with video context.

1. Hong Kong has world-renowned shopping culture and shopping environment. People from all over the world are enthusiastic fashions, jewelries, especially cosmetics. A survey from Nielsen’s revealed that cosmetics are the key actual purchased category (33%) in Hong Kong.

So, at the beginning we put some cosmetics pictures which are familiar to audience in order to guide them into our topics and make the video more acceptable.

2. Star affect is very popular in Hong Kong, intimacy will be created by showing star spokespersons from Hong Kong in our video.

3. Hong Kong's culture was born in a sophisticated fusion of East and West. This situation leads to the diversity of its culture and the people there are open-minded to accept variety. Thus we use inhumane photos to evoke their sympathy. As long as people recognize the severity and ferocity of animal tests, they will accept the definition of “cruelty-free” or “animal friendly” more easily. At the same time, considering the promotion of the freedom of speech in Hong Kong, we believe that our video will be available by many people in a short time and more of them will join us to resist animal testing.

Reference

1. NZ urged to end animal testing. 3News NZ. March 12, 2014

http://www.3news.co.nz/NZ-urged-to-end-animal-testing/tabid/423/articleID/335524/Default.aspx

2. Mathews, Gordon; Lui, Tai-Lok (2001). Consuming Hong Kong. Hong Kong culture and society. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

3. Melody Ng (2011). Mainland tourists poised to drive Hong Kong retail economy. The Moodie Report.  

http://www.moodiereport.com/document.php?c_id=6&doc_id=26521