Ethical cosmetics range Lush has used a new shower gel to mock Amazon UK boss Christopher North after winning a High Court battle to stop the online giant selling “misleading” products that were made to look like Lush items.
Since 2012, the two firms have clashed after Amazon altered its search engine to show consumers who search for “Lush” cosmetics, listings of similar, non-Lush-branded products.
The firm’s founder and boss Mark Constantine had asked the online retailer 17 times to resolve the dispute amicably and outside the courts, but the offers were declined.
In response to Amazon’s lack of response over the victory, Lush created a shower gel under the name Christopher North and is using the slogan “rich, thick and full of it”, a move likely to have got under the skin of Amazon’s UK managing director with the same name.
The product is especially recommended for those with a “recent history of dry dull skin” and promises to flow “straight to your fulfilment centre with its super saver delivery”.
The product also includes a dig at Amazon’s controversial tax arrangements: “top tip: Kindle a new love for your skin, it’s not taxing to take care of your skin with this product packed with Amazon Prime ingredients”.
Lush said the High Court “recognises Lush’s intellectual property rights after they brought trade mark infringement proceedings against Amazon,” and that it acknowledges that Lush had “taken the decision not to allow its goods to be sold on Amazon.”
The High Court also found that Amazon using the Lush sign in its trading “clearly damages the origin function and the advertising and investment functions of the Lush trade mark.”