14 DAY TRIAL // Besides taking on several major fashion brands, Greenpeace has also convinced Waitrose, a chain of supermarkets in the UK, to drop its plans concerning a potential partnership with Shell.
Apparently, all it took for Waitrose to change their mind about collaborating with said oil and gas company were 40,000 emails, hundreds of Facebook posts, several store visits, a spoof video and having the media paying annoyingly close attention to their working agenda.
According to Greenpeace's official website, Waitrose had been looking into the possibility of opening several shops in British petrol stations belonging to Shell.
Thus, earlier this year, the supermarkets chain debuted two pilot stores in Shell forecourts, and admitted to having plans to expand the project in 2013.
As far as the environmentalists supporting or working closely with Greenpeace are concerned, this decision can and should be regarded as proof that Waitrose can sometimes be quite hypocritical.
Their rationale is fairly simple to comprehend and follow: no self-respecting company agrees to support the establishment of an Arctic sanctuary, as Waitrose did, and then moves on to striking a deal with Shell, whose future plans include drilling for oil in this part of the world.
“When we heard of the partnership, we were shocked. We've worked closely with Waitrose in the past to help them source fish more sustainably. The company has built its brand on its environmental credentials and we know that many of its customers make an ethical choice to shop there,” Greenpeace explains.
“Shell, by contrast, is one of the most destructive oil companies in the world,” this green-oriented organization went on to add.
For the time being, Waitrose chose to keep fairly silent on the topic of how and why their partnership with Shell failed to take off as previously intended.
However, the chain of supermarkets wished to draw attention to the fact that, “We share the view that the Arctic should be declared a sanctuary by the United Nations.”