Lush and Migrant Rights Network launch nationwide campaign to challenge racist narratives

Lush and Migrant’s Rights Network have launched a nationwide campaign on Monday 16 March 2026 to help to highlight and challenge the racism being used to divide our communities. This new initiative runs across 101 of Lush’s stores until Monday 30 March. And highlights how politicians and media outlets blame migrant workers for the sick failings of the state.

The campaign uses stunningly bold graphics created by migrant-led studio Migrants in Culture to transform store fronts into active sites of resistance. These graphics aim to expose how anti-migrant rhetoric distracts and scapegoats from issues that the white male-led government has created. At a time when our NHS is crumbling around our ears, wealth inequality is at an all-time extreme and people struggle to just survive, Lush is hoping to show the UK just where the real blame lies. With the rich, the powerful and the fucking elite.

Lush — challenging the fear

At a time when racism is being weaponised by incredibly weak white people as a shortcut to power, this campaign cannot come at a better time. Rats such as Tommy Robinson are prowling the streets and GBNews is poisoning the population’s minds. But Lush has found a way to speak to people. By stoking fear, leaders are avoiding all accountability for decades of underinvestment in social housing and public infrastructure. They would rather the public turn their gaze on the terrified immigrant fleeing war and riot in the streets than realise our biggest threat to a fairer world is those pointing the fucking finger.

MRN is a UK charity that advocates for the rights of all migrants by bridging the gap between grassroots organising and political policy change. This stunning organisation campaigns against the hostile environment which turns doctors and teachers into border guards. It focuses on empowering migrant-led leadership to dismantle the structures that cause harm to marginalised groups.

Fizza Qureshi, chief executive officer of MRN says:

“Across the UK, people are being encouraged to blame migrants for problems caused by political choices. This campaign challenges these lies. Racism harms all of us — it weakens our communities, undermines our rights and distracts from the real issues we face.”

Funding the fight for change

During the campaign, Lush is selling a Hand of Friendship bath bomb for £6.50 to raise funds for the cause. The company donates 75% of the sale price, minus tax, to MRN to support grassroots migrant-led organisations. These groups fight hard for transformational change rather than just providing temporary aid.

Stores are also distributing a free, abridged version of the Words Matter publication to help customers resist racist rhetoric. The campaign comes as 92% of people believe the way we talk about immigration has changed for the worse. This disgusting statistic highlights the urgent need to change the conversation around migration and human rights. And where better to do that than on one of the best smelling shops on the high street?

This fucking beautiful stance is familiar territory for Lush, which has a long history of disruptive activism. In 2018 the company launched its SpyCops campaign to highlight the undercover policing scandal where officers infiltrated and, in some cases, even had children, within activist groups. Lush’s #SOSSumatra campaign also raised over £125,000 to buy 50 hectares of palm oil plantation land to restore the native rainforest.

Confronting the real enemy

Andrew Butler, campaigns manager at Lush says:

“We believe that all people should enjoy freedom of movement across the world. This is a core part of who we are and what we stand for as a business. We are proud to partner with Migrants’ Rights Network to directly challenge the anti-immigration narratives.”

Look outside of your window. At a time when our streets are filled with rubbish, roads are fucked and older people can’t afford to eat, surely it’s time to wake the fuck up? Political choices have driven down living standards for decades. Meanwhile, war and climate breakdown continues to displace millions of people globally. This campaign serves as a reminder that migrants are not the threat to our society, but racism and inequality are. When communities stand together against these manufactured divisions, they become powerful enough to demand real change.

So, tell me. Who is the real threat to our society? The cocaine-soaked Tommy Robinson and his Israeli backers? Or the immigrant nurse who ran across half a world, fleeing terror, to help heal our sick within the NHS? Is it Nigel Farage and his legion of misogynistic pricks? Or the little girl and her family who crossed the sea in a tiny boat, just to try to feel safe again?

And will we continue to let scapegoating distract us from the real causes of our problems, or will we stand up and fight together against the real fucking enemy?

The rich and the powerful.

Featured image via author