The Cult of Lush

Summary

Sounds Like A Cult – "The Cult of Lush"

Date: August 11, 2026
Host: Iman Hariri-Kia (solo, w/ guest Laci Mosley)
Produced by: Studio71
Summary by an Expert Podcast Summarizer

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into the "Cult of Lush," examining how the popular cosmetics chain has developed a fervent following, internal high-control work culture, and what this says about modern consumer cults. The hosts explore Lush's value-driven branding, obsessive fandom, employee experiences, and controversies—from eco-perfect marketing to labor disputes. Special guest Laci Mosley (Scam Goddess podcast) joins to unpack both the allure and the red flags of Lush’s cult status, ultimately categorizing where the brand falls on the "cultiness" spectrum.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Lush’s Origins & Cultural Positioning

• Brand Roots & Values (06:14):
  • Founded in 1995 after "Cosmetics to Go" collapsed, Lush positioned itself as an ethical and activist-driven alternative in beauty.
  • Early branding opposed animal testing, plastic waste, and embraced social causes (LGBTQ rights, immigrant advocacy).
• Millennial/Gen Z Appeal:
  • Values-based approach and DIY aesthetic resonated with youth wanting political alignment in their consumer choices.
  • Despite leaving social media platforms (2021), its rabid fanbase—"Lushies"—sustains the hype online.

2. Fan and Employee Experiences: Cult Vibes in the Store

• Customer Testimonies:
  • Adriana (01:22): “In the late 2000s/10s, everyone would flock to Lush for bath bombs. Even after reactions, people would keep using products, out of loyalty or FOMO.”
  • Lacey Mosley (as customer, 18:45): "I'm an acknowledger...I've always just been like, I don’t know if that much color needs to be around my cootie cat."
• Signature Smell = Tribal Marker:
  • Listener Rachel (02:01): “Lush has a signature smell…once you walk into the mall you know a Lush is nearby.”
• In-store Rituals:
  • Over-zealous handwashing, unsolicited demos, and group enthusiasm create a sense of initiation.
  • Lush’s "energy circles" theory (08:05) dictates targeted employee engagement, pushing performative friendliness:

    "Third circle energy is the culty Lush customer interaction...the big smiles, the over enthusiasm, the insistence on washing your hands..." (Amon, 10:08)

3. The Employee Experience: High-Control Culture & Exploitation

• Interview and Training Rituals:
  • Group interviews with personality bath bomb presentations, unpaid overtime “for the brand’s love,” and mandatory outside-of-work socializing.
  • Employees sorted into “Harry Potter houses,” forced to do “Loud and Prouds” (public product demos), and compete to show ethics knowledge (11:44).
  • Ex-Lush staff Dasha (17:17):

    “They literally said they employed the unemployable...normalized crying at work and told us to do it in the bathroom."

• Toxic Loyalty & Unrealistic Expectations:
  • Unpaid overtime, bullying management, expectation to embody the brand values at personal expense.

4. Ethical Contradictions & Controversial Practices

• Ingredient Ethics:
  • Bath bombs use mica (mined via child labor in India); synthetic fragrances and parabens contradict “crunchy” image (13:00).
• Corporate "Family" Language:
  • Lush frames staff as a "family," and the business as an ecosystem—flagged as a major cult red flag.
  • Laci Mosley (33:42):

    “We’re not family, okay? Because if we were, you'd come to my funeral if I died. But instead, the family gonna hire somebody to replace me and act like I never lived.”

• Union Busting & Social Media Exit:
  • Lush’s high-profile 2021 social exit was seen as a cover for union-busting and online criticism suppression.
  • Amon: “...quickly threw together this bullshit campaign to shut down their socials.”

5. Scarcity, FOMO, and Collectibility

• Product Scarcity as Cult Driver:
  • Seasonal, limited releases induce FOMO and drive obsessive collecting habits.
  • Anonymous employee (29:00):

    “They really highlight [scarcity] to get people to buy as many of that product as they can… I became an employee—you start out liking the products, and then you’re there for life.”

• Laci Mosley on Scarcity:

  “If I don’t buy this bath bomb that’s exclusively dropping on Halloween, I’ll have to wait another 365 days…” (24:15)

6. The Lush Aesthetic & Identity

• Handmade Look as Status Symbol:
  • The beat-up “artisanal” appearance of products signals moral superiority to buyers.
  • Laci:

    “For a while in consumerism, rich people had kind of turned to goop… the presentation was more raw… having that be accessible for the daily American…”

7. Positive Impacts vs. Harmful Effects

• Positive:
  • Whimsy and affordable joy in tough times
  • Surface-level social consciousness, support for LGBTQ+ causes, some sustainability (recycling, no animal testing).
• Harmful:
  • Employee exploitation, demanding personal performance without adequate pay.
  • Disingenuous activism (greenwashing vs. labor ethics).
  • Addiction/FOMO:

    “Lush is like Pokémon for whimsical people. You gotta catch 'em all…” (27:32)

  • Laci:

    “If I'm getting paid hourly, anything, I’m not dancing. Are you serious?... If you have anybody touching anybody else’s hands… we definitely need to have OSHA involved.” (39:00)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Cult Recruitment Tactics:

  "They make you feel like you need their products, you need to join their cult, because it will make you a better person, it'll make you morally righteous, it'll make you cool and part of an exclusive community, and it'll make you feel better after a long, shitty day." — Amon (42:05)

• On Corporate Activism:

  “Sustainable is such a vague ass word...You're not actually giving us explicit details of the sourcing of your products...So there’s no way for me to know that.” — Laci Mosley (40:04)

• On Cultiest Employee Ritual:

  “If I'm going to a job, tell me what my job is today. I didn’t come in here to be whimsical with y'all. I want a paycheck, okay?... Tell me what light bulbs need to be screwed in and let me go home.” — Laci (36:17)

• On Consumer Activism and Guilt:

  “Their consumers...get to walk away being like, whoo, that's enough activism for today. Let me pop this bath bomb when I get home. Yep, it’s like a little black square during Black Lives Matter…” – Laci (42:37)

• On Employee-Driven Brand Creativity:

  “You have to put your own personality into the brand…That also, to me, opens itself up to brand theft, because if I'm giving you ideas...but you're not paying me to do that…” — Laci (38:00)

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Key Timestamps

• 01:22–02:17: Listener stories on Lush’s culty appeal (product loyalty, “signature smell” as a tribal marker)
• 06:14–08:05: Lush’s background, activist branding, and “family business” language
• 08:05–12:36: Wild employee rituals, “energy circles” theory, Harry Potter house comps, “Loud and Prouds”
• 13:00–15:09: Product ingredient controversies, labor practices, and online employee organizing
• 17:17–18:24: Ex-employee Dasha on toxic work culture and emotional toll
• 18:24–27:14: Interview with Laci Mosley: fandom quirks, collecting, price of bath bomb obsession
• 29:00: Anonymous Lush worker explains manufactured FOMO and scent “families”
• 33:27–36:17: Corporate “family” language, journey to social media abstention, anti-union tactics
• 39:00–40:04: Jargon as cult language, performative activism, the hollowness of “sustainability” claims
• 49:17–50:52: Final verdict—Lush as a "watch your back" cult, focus on worker protections
• 50:52–51:13: Practical warnings: “watch your back, watch your front, and wash your tub”

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The Cult Verdict

• Category: "Watch Your Back"
  • Laci Mosley:

    “I wanna say watch the back of your fellow workers...I wouldn’t necessarily want to patronize their business until they made some changes...On the cult scale, there’s way worse cults, but—watch everybody’s back a little bit.” (49:25)

  • Amon Hariri-Kia:

    "Even if the Cult of Lush started out with the best of intentions and the average Lush shopper doesn’t know about its culty backstory, you always have to protect workers..." (50:14)

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Conclusion & Takeaways

The Cult of Lush episode unpacks how surface-level ethical branding, exclusivity, immersive employee rituals, and social FOMO combine to create one of consumer culture’s most insidious “harmless” cults. While not as pernicious as others, the exploitative aspects—especially toward employees—mean fans, customers, and the broader culture should, as the hosts advise, "watch your back." The episode blends humor, sharp critique, and sociological insight, making it a must-listen (or a must-read-summary) for anyone intrigued by the subtle line where fandom tips into fanaticism.

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For more:

• Follow Laci Mosley @divalaci and Scam Goddess Pod on all platforms.
• Keep up with Sounds Like A Cult on Instagram and Patreon.

Memorable Takeaway:
"Watch your back, wash your front, and also, wash your tub." — (51:10)

Transcript

[Amanda Montell]

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episode is supported by FX's the Shards, a seductive drama from executive producer Ryan Murphy. Set in 1980s Los Angeles, the series follows a group of glamorous, deeply entangled high school seniors drawn into a life of wealth, beauty, parties and excess. At its center is Brett, whose reality begins to unravel when the arrival of a new student coincides with a series of mysterious murders. FX's the Shar Arts, now streaming on Hulu.

[Amanda Montell]

The views expressed on this episode, as with all episodes of Sounds Like a Cult, are solely host opinions and quoted allegations. The content here should not be taken as indisputable fact. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only.

[Adriana]

Hi, my name is Adriana and I'm from Cleveland, Ohio. And I think what makes Lush so culty is that everyone would flock to their stores to get like a face mask or oh my God, their bath bombs in the late 2000s tens. I don't know how effective their bath bombs are, but I know a lot of girls who would like get the face mask and then they'd have terrible reactions to it, but they'd be like, oh, I just have sensitive skin but like it's good for me so I should keep using it. And I'm like no, you're having a bad reaction and probably need to see a dermatologist. Also the fact that we'd pay that much for bath bombs, that kind of screams cult.

[Lacey Mosley]

Hi culties, this is Rachel from Portland. The reason I think that Lush is culty is that it has a signature smell. It's not even a good smell, but it just has that super identifiable smell that once you walk into a mall you know that Lush is nearby.

[Amon Haririkiah]

This is Sounds Like a Cult, a show about the modern day cults we all follow. I am your host Iman Ririkia, author of Female Fantasy and Once in a Timeline, which will hit bookshelves on October 13th. Every week on the show we discuss a different fanatical fringe group or guru from the cultural zeitgeist, from cruise ships to Christian music. To try and answer the big question, this group sounds like a cult. But is it really? And if so, which of our cult categories does it fall into? A live your life, a watch your back, or a get the fuck out. After all, in 2026, cultishness is in the eye of the beholder, and not every cult y looking group is equally bad. The point of the show is to analyze how culty behaviors show up in everyday life, including places you might not think to look. Sometimes cults whisk you away romantically to far off lands, isolating you from all you know in order to keep you close and pliable. And sometimes they bubble up right in your bathtub or at your local mall. Speaking of which, there's a place in the mall where the love bombing is as common as the bath bombs. A place where you can anoint yourself with overpriced essential oils and baptize yourself in a sink full of glittery soap. A place where the associates are as desperate to wash your hands as some Christians are to wash your feet. That's right, culties. Today we are talking about the Cult of Lush. This is a long awaited episode and culties. After doing some research, it is clear why there has been such a high demand for this topic. From the ex employees who claim that Lush Workplace is a high control group, to the fans who literally foam at the mouth for those frothy bath bombs, Lush is never beating those culty accusations. I am so excited because this is my first time hosting a solo episode and we have an amazing guests coming so please stick around later for our conversation. My earliest memories of Lush are going to the Lush store with my close friends when I was like a teenager and getting my hands washed and being greeted by the really overly friendly employees. All the coolest girls in school had bath bombs and I wanted to be one of them. The labeling was iconic and I was a big fan of YouTube haul videos back in the day. Shout out juicy star07 if you know, you know. And I always used to watch watch her bath bomb hauls from Lush and I wanted to be just like her. So in many ways I was called to the cult of Lush even though I was never fully indoctrinated. And I'm very curious to see what makes this cult so incredibly culty. So in order to answer that question, let's get into the background and the context of our cult du jour, shall we? Cultise Lush was founded in 1995 by six co founders after after the collapse of their earlier mail order business, Cosmetics to Go. From the start, the brand positioned itself as values driven, opposing animal testing and excessive packaging, while loudly supporting causes like LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights, and other social justice movements. Okay, iconic. So how did Lush become such a phenomenon? Well, part of its appeal is its value driven branding, which especially resonated with millennials and Gen Z, who often want their purchases to reflect their politics. And despite Lush ditching its own social media in 2021, its fans, aka the Lushies, happily took over, building online communities that keep the hype alive for every glittery bubble bar and seasonal drop. Okay, so this all sounds incredible, right? Where exactly do the culty vibes come in? So, on the official Lush website, their wording in terms of phrase are very nature themed and family oriented. They refer to joining the Lush team as joining a cosmetic revolution. Now, I don't know about you guys, but when I go to a founder's page and I see that they are comparing their company that they founded and their employees, which they pay as their family members, it immediately raises my culty spidey senses. And if that wasn't enough to get you tingling, wait till I tell you about the weird rituals and traditions. So you might be thinking, when exactly do the employees come into play? Well, Lush keeps it incredibly culty. One of our very own culties shout out our listeners emailed us sharing her experience saying, quote, I experience the most chaotic interview process ever. Group interview, think like 20 to 25 people. And we had to invent a bath bomb that represents our personality and share it in group and clap manically for each other. We had to do all these insane trust exercises and activities, wash each other's hands and whacked out our favorite animals. I was explicitly told that there would be unpaid overtime that was done for the love and vision of the company, a mandated expectation of hanging out with colleagues outside of work to build team spirit, and no, this was not subsidized in any way. End quote. That is extremely culty. And as for the customer interactions, let's

[Co-host/Interviewer]

just say soap isn't the only thing

[Amon Haririkiah]

that's expected to stay bubbly from deleted Reddit user. Lush is pushing for sales associates to act like absolute lunatics in order to drive sales. I'm talking walking around the mall, demoing the public, setting up stands outside the store, interacting with passerby to coerce them into coming in. Oh, so that's why Lush employees were always excited to see me when I Was a middle schooler. See, I believed my mom when she told me I was special. And that's on me. According to another redditor, Lush employees are expected to adhere to the energy circles theory of customer interaction. What is the energy circles theory, you may ask? I will tell you. The first circle is closed energy. These people do not want to talk to you. Bothering them will make them want to shop less. Headphones on, avoiding eye contact, keeping their head down, etc. Feel like this is usually me when I'm shopping. Second circle of energy. This is where most people reside day to day. These customers will offer friendly platitudes when greeted, are open to being approached by a sales associate, maybe open to demos. They want to experience what the shop has to offer. But these are usually casual shoppers. Their world does not change when they walk into the shop, and they're usually put off when your energy changes to greet them. So you need to be yourself when you're interacting with someone in the second circle and you'll have your best chance at success. This is where authenticity pays.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Okay, so interesting.

[Amon Haririkiah]

If someone is in the first circle of energy, then you want to give up on them right away because you know that you'll never have a chance at like pulling them into your cult. However, if they're in the second circle of energy, you've got a shot, but not a good one. So instead of putting on a whole song and dance, you want to just be yourself, I guess. Okay, but if being yourself is only the second circle of energy, then what

[Co-host/Interviewer]

does the third circle entail? Well, the third circle of energy is being outgoing and excited. These are the people who read the

[Amon Haririkiah]

blogs, who listen to the silly bath time podcasts, et cetera. This is a true cult member. They want to know what's new. They want to try all the things they want to experience, everything Lush has to offer. So if you sense a customer is in this third circle, you need to meet them there. You need to get excited with them, get curious, and give them a show. Often. Third circle energy is overwhelming when you encounter it in the wild. If you feel the need tagging a coworker to offer their expertise to the customer in a new section of the store works best to give yourself time to catch your breath. So I guess that third circle of energy is the culty lush customer interactions that the store and the brand are known for. You know, the big smiles, the over enthusiasm, the insistence on washing your hands and following you around the store. And it's all because they adhere to this three Energy circle theory and the weird expectations and rituals do not end there. Culties According to a Redditor One of the things I found very uncomfortable and hated about the job was the massages. A customer would ask about a product and I would explain, but the supervisor would say that this closes the consultation too early and that we need to get the product on their skin. They'd expect us to pretty much just pick up their arm and start putting the product on their skin. If I was a customer, I wouldn't want someone doing that to me. Yes. Where is the consent here, people? Where was the consent in our culties?

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Anonymous confession why are we insisting that people touch each other for no goddamn good reason?

[Amon Haririkiah]

This is absurd to me. And that is not all. In the back of the store they had a wall which was a map of the world detailing the company ethics. They do a lot of games with a Harry Potter theme to test us. Half of us were Slytherin, the other half was Gryffindor. And you would have to include at least one ethic in your consultation. Then you'd get double points if you could include two of the company ethics. And it was like you were competing against each other. One thing I'll never forget is the Loud and Prouds, which they'd make us do. It was my worst nightmare. You'd stand at the sink at the front of the shop. It would be a very busy Saturday and you had to hold up a bath bomb and shout at the top of your lungs that you were about to put it in the water. A large crowd would then gather around you. I went bright red any time I had to do it. But you got double points if you were doing it loud and proud.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Wow.

[Amon Haririkiah]

Between the dividing the employees into Harry Potter houses and making them basically perform an entire gig for shoppers, I can't imagine that this is all part of a regular 9 to 5 JD insane. And if that doesn't sound outside of the bounds of what you'd consider to

[Co-host/Interviewer]

be part of a typical minimum wage

[Amon Haririkiah]

job, wait till we talk about the exploitation controversy. Despite Lush's product line, their reputation isn't exactly. Exactly squeaky clean. Lush prides themselves on being sustainable and eco friendly, giving back containers, using recycled plastics, et cetera. Well, that's better than most companies, it's true. However, their products are packed with synthetic fragrance parabens and other unsavory ingredients to some of the crunchier or health conscious folks who might be led to believe otherwise by deceptive branding. So their bath bombs often contain mica an ingredient heavily criticized by many because it the majority of mica comes from India, where an estimated 22,000 children, some as young as five years old, spend their days mining mica for 20 to 30 rupees per day, about 30 to 40 cents. So in order to create those sustainable products, they are exploiting the labor of children overseas. And unfortunately, culties there is more. This does not hold a candle to to the most stark contrast in the world of Lush this angelic brand Persona versus the hellish ways that the employees are treated. The day after the Trump election, amid protests, Lush sent out an email saying that they understood if sales were down to customers who might be protesting, but they didn't allow employees to take that day off. A Reddit post from an ex employee asking former employees if they'd want to share their stories of cultishness slash unfair treatment garnered 71 responses, including one that said Lush should be a sounds like a cult episode. Which, you guessed it, inspired this very episode that you are listening to right now. Another Reddit user said, whenever Lush HQ asks us to give feedback on what they could do better, they are always quick to say that this is not the place to ask about pay. Major yikes and being proud of employing and being safe for more queer people and women and historically underemployed populations while not paying them adequately, that's actually harming those same groups.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

With all that being said, I am so excited because the host of the legendary podcast Scam Goddess Lacy Mosley is here and we are going to be diving deeper into all of this delicious lushy cultishness.

[Amanda Montell]

Quick question for you culties. Are you being rewarded for paying your rent or mortgage right now? If the answer is no, you need to check out bilt. Becoming a Bilt member means earning points on every housing payment, no matter where you live. Paying rent on the 1st of every month instills a great sense of woe in my soul. And BILT is here to mollify some of that woe. Built Points can be redeemed toward flights, hotels, Lyft rides, Amazon.com purchases, and so much more. You can even use your Built Points toward future housing payments. One of my favorite ways to redeem Built Points is through fitness classes. If you're in the cult of SoulCycle, berries, pure bar, Corepower, Rumble. Yeah, you can use your Built Points on all of those places. And an unexpected benefit that Bilt gives every single member unlimited access to is its agentic neighborhood concierge, which is connected to your home and over 50,000 merchant partners so you can literally ask it to pay your rent. Make a dinner reservation, book one them fitness classes, schedule a lift, and more. Hello, the future is here. Download the Bilt app and join the membership for where you live at joinbuilt.com cult that's J-O-I-N-B-I-L-T.com cult use our URL so they know we sent you.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

This episode is supported by FX's the Shards, a seductive drama from executive producer Ryan Murphy. Set in 1980s Los Angeles, the series follows a group of glamorous, deeply entangled high school seniors drawn into a life of wealth, beauty, parties and excess. At its center is Brett, whose reality begins to unravel when the arrival of a new student coincides with a series of mysterious murders. FX's the Shards, now streaming on Hulu.

[Dasha]

Hi, culties. Dasha here. I'm very happy you decided to cover Lush. I've been a fan since I was really, really young. The subreddit is basically the main hub for fans to communicate with with each other, but it is heavily moderated with employees and upper management lurking, and any criticism is not taken very well. I even worked for the company, and that's when I realized how bad it actually is. During the training, they literally said that they employed the unemployable, which is wild because everybody was super qualified and even over qualified, they kind of normalized crying at work and told us to do it in the bathroom. And this was the one and only time I've been ever told that in a workspace. And I quit after a couple of months. They saw this image of being not your average shop, but at the end of the day, it's just another corporation. And when it comes to work culture, it is pretty bad. We're constantly pushed to go beyond our job description for the love of the brand. Management was often just bullying and it was not a healthy environment, at least in my case.

[Amon Haririkiah]

Lacey, welcome to Sounds Like a Cult.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Can you please introduce yourself to our listeners?

[Lacey Mosley]

Hi, my name is Lacey Mosley. I host the podcast Scam Goddess. It's a comedy podcast all about robbery, fraud and those who practice it. I'm also an actress and an author.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

And Lacey, what would you say your relationship to the Cult of Lush is? Are you a devotee, like a casual dabbler or a recovering acolyte?

[Lacey Mosley]

I'm gonna have to say, out of all of those, I'm an acknowledger. Maybe because I feel like I'm even lower than casual dabbler. I can't Remember going into a Lush store for probably, like, I know that they smell really good, but I've always just been kind of like, I don't know if that much color needs to be around my cootie cat. You know, like, it was just very thick. But I am very hyper aware of their impact on the culture and their growth and everything.

[Amon Haririkiah]

I love that the aroma of Lush

[Co-host/Interviewer]

is always the first sense that people attach to the cult.

[Amon Haririkiah]

What is it about Lush that turns

[Co-host/Interviewer]

otherwise, say, rational adults into people willingly dropping $18 on something called a sleepy bear bath melt?

[Lacey Mosley]

Well, I think in these trying times, we're gonna buy anything that sounds like it's gonna help our mental health. You know what I mean? I rubbed this on me. I feel good about the economy. But also, scent is so deeply connected to memory. And it's almost like Lush has, like, the donut shop version of that for, like, people who are really into strong, powerful scents where it's like you walk past the store and it kind of beckons you. And it's not like Bed, Bath and Beyond, the Bed, Bath and Beyond. And I'm not turned on. It's too many scents coming at me. It's vanilla bean and grapefruit, but then also, like, peanut butter, jelly. And it's all mixing together, and I'm like, I don't want to go in there, but let's just somehow come up with a way that makes several different scents. All have a, like, kind of, like, cohesive, beautiful, like, outer pull to you going in. And when you smell good, people remember you better.

[Adriana]

So true.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

And I love that we've convinced ourselves that, like, this bath bomb can fix me. I don't need therapy. I need another bath bomb.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yes. And then afterwards, I get the workout of cleaning all the blue and green and pink out of my tub, you know?

[Amon Haririkiah]

Yeah.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

It's good for the body and the mind. What do you think the cultiest behavior you've witnessed from a lush customer or have committed yourself in the name of fizzy self care?

[Lacey Mosley]

I feel like the most that I've seen is the people who get the collections. It's like, almost like the Stanley cup with the bath bombs and the soaps. And I think people are really attracted to, like, all the pretty colors. Personally, after living in Europe for a while, I don't want nothing hot pink or chartreuse going near my orifices, but I could see how that would be appealing. And if you're like, bathroom maxing, no shade, no judgment. If you love it, it's true.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

And they're so cute and collectible. They look great on display.

[Lacey Mosley]

Shapes are real cute. And they really nailed down that whole artisanal feel of the handmade because it's like the soap look all rough and kind of beat up, like somebody cut it with a butter knife. You know, you love that. You love that. You know it's coming farm to table.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

If the soap literally looks so beat up, like, how much of people's loyalty to Lush is actually, would you say those beat up soaps and the products versus values that the brand says they support? So do you think that customers are buying these shampoo bars or are they buying Feeling, like, morally superior, righteous?

[Lacey Mosley]

They're definitely doing a little bit of both. You're purchasing a feeling and you're also purchasing a status. Because, you know, I will take myself right on down to the cvs. Give me some good old dove with a little cucumber honey or even something more simple than that. But for a while in consumerism, rich people at kind of turned to like, goop and things like that, where the presentation was a little bit more raw because they were saying this is natural and real and having that be a little bit more accessible for the daily American. Who's like, walking through the mall or maybe through, like, you know, outdoor shopping complex, where they're like, oh, look at that beat up soap. It looked like that lady cut that soap this morning. And then you're like, ooh, fancy. So I think it's a little bit of both brand loyalty and the appearance of it was that status.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Wow. I need stats on the cult of Lush. To the cult of Goop Pipeline. If you were a middle schooler shopping at Lush at the mall, you are now a goop head. I don't make the rules.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah, that's the pipeline. That's the pipeline. Just like Forbes started in the 30s. Prison pipeline. Yeah, if you started at Lush, you definitely was gooping for a little bit. Just a little bit.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

What do you think the entry costs are then to joining the cult of Lush? Perhaps more importantly, are there exit costs? Like, once your bathroom starts literally looking like an apothecary exploded?

[Lacey Mosley]

I think there are immediate exit costs. And when I say that, I mean, like, as soon as you exit the bath. Like, if you're really using Lush like that, baby, you washing that tub, you got to bust that tub down about, you know, six times a week. Okay, that's so true.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Like, forget the price tags. Forget the dollar amounts. How much of your time are you wasting scrubbing your tub? Cause you can't put a price on

[Lacey Mosley]

that because I don't put a lush aesthetic person with a person who does not wash their tub. I think they wash their tub. Especially if you're going to use all these different colored products because then eventually all those bright colors start to make brown if you leave them around, you know what I mean? And then your tub is brown. So I think you're doing a lot of cleaning.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

So true. Who or what do you think actually then shapes the taste within Lush fandom? Do you think it's the product drop? The viral tiktoks? Is it the fact that like every season there's a sense of scarcity? Do you think there's an actual cult leader when it comes to the cults of Lush or do you think it's

[Amon Haririkiah]

just like a glittery hive minded that's fully decentralized?

[Lacey Mosley]

I'm fully interested in thinking who you think leads the Lush cult. Aman. I would not know that, but I do think that it is a combination of those three things. So like the scarcity of having something rare definitely gets into it. And then also the packaging, the bright colors, it's like stimulating.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

It's so true. Like if I don't buy this bath bomb that's exclusively dropping on Halloween, I'll have to wait another 365 days before there's another exclusive bath bomb dropping on Halloween. I've got to get it before my time runs out.

[Lacey Mosley]

Which always freaks me out when that happens because I mean, you see that with those Trader Joe mini totes where people are coming in and buying a bunch of them and selling them for as much as $500, $5,000 online to people who don't live in America. But also you see that I saw that fail with Beyonce's Ivy Park. They created so much scarcity to where no one knew how to buy the clothes. We all just stopped trying.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

So true. Whenever I walk around New York and I see people with their mini Trader Joe's totes, I think to myself how hard they had to fight to get their hands on that merch drop.

[Lacey Mosley]

It's Black Friday in Trader Joe's. They're trading blows in Trader Joe's.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

I immediately avert my eyes because I have to show a sign of deference and respect.

[Lacey Mosley]

Because you're so strong. One of our strongest soldiers. Like honestly, if we do have to get into the civil war in America, we gotta put Pilates girlies and Trader Joe's purchasers right at the front. Okay. Because they know how to fight.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

We need The Lush TikTokers and YouTubers. We need the Trader Joe's girls and we need all of the women who have been training for war in Pilates studios on the front lines. Speaking of which, what happens when someone gets, would you say, a little too into Lush? Do you think it leads to, say, financial ruin? Is it just skin irritation and a brown bath? A complete inability to, like, enter a normal soap store without feeling spiritually empty? What do you think?

[Lacey Mosley]

It's interesting to see people's kind of collection hobbies become their personalities. They say people who like to collect either have way too much money or not enough, but it gives you the same stimuli, just like having something new. And yeah, that price point for soap is wild, but if you think about it from a collector standpoint, and if that's the only thing that they really, like, invest in, then it's not that crazy for them. That's kind of how I look at the Lush people. Also, the word lush used to mean, I mean, sometimes words should not evolve. Words used to mean things. Lush was an alcoholic. Lush was an addict. And I know they're using it more in the sense of, like, lush, luxurious, but I think it can mean both. They're like, come in here for the luxury and then stay for the addiction.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

That is such a good point. I never thought about it.

[Amon Haririkiah]

It's a double entendre.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

We get you through the door by inviting you to live this lush life. And once you're here, we trap you with all of our exorbitant costs, our incredible smells, and our incredibly expensive of exclusive bath bombs. So it's funny to think about the fact that the world is burning around us. People feel more, like, isolated and lonely than ever. But we're still making time to feel something via soap bar and via, like, fragrant bath bomb.

[Lacey Mosley]

For some people, Lush is all the whimsy they get.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

It's true.

[Lacey Mosley]

But again, glitter, bathtub glitter is forever. I don't want that in me or on me.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

On the one hand, is it so wrong to give yourself a tiny 15 to 30 minutes of joy via a Lush product a day? But on the other hand, how are you gonna get every single one of those glittery soap suds out of your train? A question for another day.

[Lacey Mosley]

I feel like Lush is like Pokemon for whimsical people. You know, you gotta catch them all. You gotta, like, catch the holiday drops. And so if that 15 minutes is doing great, if that's making your day better, no judgment. I love that for you.

[Sponsor Voice]

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[Lacey Mosley]

Now I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills but it

[Sponsor Voice]

turns out that's very illegal.

[Lacey Mosley]

So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a [e-mail] upfront payment of

[Amanda Montell]

45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for 12 month plan

[Amon Haririkiah]

required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy See

[Adriana]

Terms

[Anonymous Lush Employee]

I'm a Lush employee and I wish to remain anonymous. What makes Lush a cult? They are great at using FOMO to get people to buy their products and scents that they love. They bring certain scents out out for a limited time and remind you that these scents are limited and that they don't know if they will come back or when they will come back at all. And they really highlight that to get people to buy as many of that product as they can. They also have certain scent families such as Snow Fairy Super Milk Sticky Dates let the good times roll that they know people love so they just continue to release release more products with that scent range. For example, you could go around the store and find seven different products with Super Milk now, seven different products with sticky dates. And it keeps people coming back and they use that to their advantage to then sell more products and people spread the word of mouth of how good this scent is. One of my co workers was wearing one of our body sprays and someone smelt her in the parking lot and follows her into the store to find out what the scent was. I mean the smells really are that great, the scents, but I think they're good at marketing and they know what they're doing and they absolutely use that to their advantage. That's how I became an employee. You know, you start out liking the products and then you're there for life.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Do you think the famously intense lush employee enthusiasm is genuine passion like highly effective corporate conditioning or some fascinating combination of the Two.

[Lacey Mosley]

I mean, before the Lush girlies could, like, you know, walk, like, we had the Mac counter girlies crawling where, like, the culture of the job demands that. I mean, you see that with Chick Fil A as well. Like, I don't think that it's necessary that people are so genuinely jazzed to work there. Although I think there might be some people who are. Maybe they love their discount. Listen, everybody knows around every holiday, Christmas, whatever. Like, y' all know Lisa about to lash us down. Like, she's got that discount. Like, you know, we're getting it. So I think it is, like, a just a really strong corporate culture that also forces its employees to either join that culture or be expelled from it.

[Amon Haririkiah]

Speaking of people that I want on

[Co-host/Interviewer]

the front lines if there is an apocalyptic war, are the Mac girlies still around? Because I need them to come to the front immediately.

[Lacey Mosley]

They were some of our strongest. I mean, they came in with a full beat every single day and probably did so many proms in a day in, like, high stress situations. Because, you know, if you're getting your makeup done, it's very vulnerable, like, your face. Or if you're choosing makeup for people, you know, they want to feel good. You know, I still love me a matte girly with a strong matte lip on lip, never coming off.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Wait, Lacey, are you aware of the infamously culty behavior that Lush employees are encouraged to exhibit when they're working?

[Lacey Mosley]

What are some of the examples? Because I've been in the store, obviously.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

So they're supposed to categorize their employees into three tiers of energy circles and target them according to their tier. So if they're in the third energy

[Amon Haririkiah]

circle, they're supposed to put on, like, an entire song a day dance, greet

[Co-host/Interviewer]

you with enthusiasm, insist on washing your hands. Have you ever had an employee wash your hands?

[Lacey Mosley]

No, but I think that's a public service because, you know, people are not washing their hands like that. So shout out to those employees. But I feel like that's very romantic. I feel like now, like, you start washing my hands now all of a sudden, I'm in the movie Ghost, and, like, I'm Debbie Moore. You Patrick Swayze. You like, oh, my love. And I'm like, what is happening here? Why am I getting this hand massage?

[Co-host/Interviewer]

So all future Lush employees, you do have consent to. Was Lacey's hands the next day.

[Lacey Mosley]

You have to wash them from behind, though. You have to, like, wash, like, be behind me and, like, grab both hands.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

We have to share a moment.

[Amon Haririkiah]

Let's get into the culty language. So on the official Lush website, there is a lot of talk about the Lush structure of business. They describe their business model as an ecosystem and compare themselves to Mycelium, an underground Netflix network of interconnected fungi, claiming they aren't, quote, structured in a traditional way. A lot of people don't have official job titles and take on a lot of roles, end quote.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Right.

[Amon Haririkiah]

Just like a giant mushroom. They also state, lush is a family, and it is a family who cares for each other. Everyone knows that calling a company a family is a major, major sign to take a step back.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Isn't that so interesting?

[Lacey Mosley]

I mean, whoever wrote that has definitely done a lot of shrooms. But also, one thing I hate that corporations are doing now is like, their social media presence feels like a person. And it's like Wendy's gets involved and it's like, oh, girl, no. And I'm like, wendy's? Like, you're Wendy's. Please stop acting like you're a person. You are not. Actually, Wendy, her redheaded ass is not behind his keyboard. Stop playing with me. But I also hate when corporations call everything family. We're not family, okay? Because if we were family, you would come to my funeral if I died, but instead the family gonna hire somebody to replace me and act like I never lived. We're gonna not family, okay? Olive Garden said, when you're here, you're family. But that was to the customer, not to the employee.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

It's so true. Did you know that Lush is not on social media? They have a stance that they have a no social media policy. Did you know about that?

[Lacey Mosley]

No, but I think that's actually really smart.

[Amon Haririkiah]

Here's the tea this according to another Reddit user. I started working there right after that anti social media campaign happened. Unfortunately, it was just a farce and a response to the comments they were getting on their social media profiles about union busting. Employees were mistreated and underpaid, so they tried to unionize and Lush responded horribly. They pushed a very heavy anti union platform on the staff and found any and every reason to fire employees who just happened to be involved with the union organizing. When they were called out by customers who were made aware of it, they quickly threw together this bullshit campaign to shut down their socials. And the comments they were getting, they still haven't brought them back and still haven't recovered from it. See, they were trying to protect themselves from the onslaught of negative comments they

[Co-host/Interviewer]

were receiving because of their own union busting. I've never heard of anything so culty.

[Lacey Mosley]

Okay, one genius rebrand. Yeah, call Blake Lively. She needs help. But union busting is awful. And if you're asking people to be a part of, like, culty circles of personality and wash people's hands and stuff like that, they absolutely do need prot. If you have anybody touching anybody else's hands in a damn store and they don't have a cosmetology license, we definitely need to have OSHA involved. I'm not surprised, but I think that strategy still even works for them because Denzel Washington was talking about how he doesn't have social media. And he was like, because if y' all can see me every day, why would you come see me in theaters? So if you could see Lush every day, why would you not stop into that good smelling store? And you know it's going to remind you, I haven't seen Lush in a while. If you're not like a dedicated lush head.

[Amon Haririkiah]

It's true. And the average Lush customer probably doesn't

[Co-host/Interviewer]

know why the no so social media stance exists. They don't know all of this lore.

[Amon Haririkiah]

But given all this, what do you,

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Lacey, think is the cultiest thing about Lush right now?

[Lacey Mosley]

For me, it's the categorization of the employees based on the personality test and things like, I think that's very bizarre. Like, if I'm going to job, like, tell me what my job is today. I'm stocking. I'm stocking. I mean, I didn't come in here to be whimsical with y'. All. Like, I want a paycheck, okay? Y' all not paying enough for me to actually care about this company. You know, you're so. Just tell me what light bulbs need to be screwed in and let me go home.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Well, wait till I tell you about the anonymous accounts who said that Lush forced them to categorize themselves into Harry Potter houses in the interview process, asked them to name a bath bomb after their personalities. Ask them to perform a dance inspired by their favorite animal.

[Lacey Mosley]

A dance? Isn't that some kind of weird corporate retreat? Are y' all taking me into the woods to talk about soap?

[Co-host/Interviewer]

That said, what would your Lush inspired by your personality be? I need to know.

[Lacey Mosley]

Oh, yeah, it's like a robbery Ruby. And it's got notes of, like, cranberry and stone fruits, like cherry. Like that rich. Yes. Yeah.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Expensive and juicy.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Full of.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah, juicy's a great word. Full of antioxidants, you know? Yeah, she's good for you.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

You guys.

[Adriana]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley]

Get ready to steal a moment for Yourself and then. And rob the day. Yeah, you know, there you go.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

These corporate exercises are definitely as culty as it comes, and yet they're really fun. Icebreaker questions the next time you're out at a bar.

[Lacey Mosley]

They really are.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Okay, Lacy, if we're weighing the karmic ledger here, what are the most devastating side effects of the cult of Lush, and what do you think the genuinely

[Amon Haririkiah]

positive impacts can be?

[Lacey Mosley]

I think genuine positive impacts. I'll start there is just that if you're creating value for your consumers in a way that allows them to have some kind of personal identity with the brand and gives them excitement about, you know, the drops or the limited releases or whatever, then you're doing your job as a company to give your consumers something that they're excited about. So I'll give them that. Everything else bad. Why am I dancing at my corporation job? Kiss my ass. Y' all not paying me enough for this. If I'm getting paid hourly, Anything. I'm not dancing. Are you serious? And also, the cultiness of, like, you, you have to put your own personality into the brand. That also, to me, it opens itself up to brand theft. Because if I'm giving you ideas, that typically would come from a corporate level, marketing strategy or product development, but you're asking me to do that, and you're not paying me more to do that. You're not paying me more to be dancing. You're not paying me more to be in whatever third circle of hell I'm supposed to be in, rubbing on people's hands, then that, to me, is exploitation. And I can understand why they've been trying to have a union. And obviously, we know they're not as woo woo as they seem if they've been union busted, because that completely goes against their corporate ethos, which lets me know that you don't believe in what you're saying. You just want the people to come in and spend $18 on soap and feel like it's coming from a good place because it's cut all rugged. Like. Like it was cut like a plastic silverware.

[Amon Haririkiah]

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, it's interesting because Lush, as a corporation actually does do some really good outreach, more so than some other companies. Like, they do have a focus on sustainability. They are very pro lgbtq.

[Lacey Mosley]

I mean, they make fairy bombs. So if they weren't pro gay, they'd be out of business.

[Amon Haririkiah]

And they go out of their way to make their allyship known and to support local communities, but at the same time, they've been involved in so many controversies. They don't support their own employees. There's a lot of discourse about where they get the ingredients that they do put into their products and the labor. Labor costs there. So basically, the cult of Lush is full of contradictions. What do you think this says about the world as a whole?

[Lacey Mosley]

I think Lush reflects performative consumerism because you cannot be in support of any community if you are not in support of labor. Point blank, period, full stop. And then also you can tell us that everything is sustainable. Sustainable is such a vague ass word. Like you're not actually giving us explicit details of the sourcing of your products, the creation and where your research and development is happening, and the labor side before the product even hits the store. So there's no way for me to know that. And to give you an example, I don't know if you've ever seen the commercials or seen the billboard of Cars for Kids.

[Amon Haririkiah]

I always used to see the Cars for Kids.

[Lacey Mosley]

One, two, three, four. Cars for Kids. And Cars for Kids was a charitable organization that allowed you to donate your old car. And the money and resources was supposed to go to kids. Now, we should have known that we needed to ask, like, which kids? Where are the kids? How are the kids? Why are the kids. They're actually banned in California because that money was just going to fund Birthright citizenship trips for kids to Israel.

[Amon Haririkiah]

What? I had no idea.

[Amanda Montell]

Oh, my gosh.

[Lacey Mosley]

If you want to go on Birthright to Israel, like, I'm not going to get too political with all of this, but if you know anything about me, you already know I vibe, but you are not a kid in need. Kids need food, they need shelter, they need proper educational tools and supplies. You over here tricking me. Talk about Cars for Kids. This is Cars for Kids vacation. And I don't want that to dispel too far into, like, what people should do with money that is received from charity. But I just think that the reason California banned it is was false pretenses. But the thing is, it's like, that's Lush. They're saying they reaching out communities. They're saying they care about the LGBT community. What does that mean? Does that mean just throwing soap at us at Pride? Does that mean actually investing in homeless queer youth? What does that mean? Nothing. It's vague enough so that they can seem like they are ethical without us actually having to check. And everyone's so tired and so inundated with information that I doubt many people are like, well, let me see what Cher work and how much luscious giving to, you know, we're just taking them at their word, which you can't do with corporations. They're liars.

[Amon Haririkiah]

And, you know, this is culty recruitment. One on one, they make you feel like you need their products, you need to join their cult, because it will make you a better person, it'll make you morally righteous, it'll make you cool

[Co-host/Interviewer]

and part of an exclusive community of people, and it'll make you feel better after a long, shitty day.

[Amon Haririkiah]

But then they use all that messaging to distract you from their own labor practices and perhaps some of their advertising that doesn't check out when you look a little closer at the fine print.

[Lacey Mosley]

And also, it gives their consumers, who I could argue could feel a little bit guilty about spending a large sum of money on soap, especially in this economy. But they get to walk away being like, whoo, that's enough activism for today. Let me pop this bath bomb when I get home. Yep, it's like a little black square. During Black Lives Matter, everybody's like, I put my square up, so that's all I could do. Black people, goodbye. And that happens with all types of different. But you know what I mean, like, the consumer getting to feel like this wholly unnecessary product is doing good in the world. That's how TOMS got me. I used to buy them Toms because they were like, they giving a pair to the babies, the barefoot babies in other countries.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

And that's on capitalism, ladies and gentlemen. Okay, Lacy, all that being said, we are now going to play a quick little culty game with you.

[Lacey Mosley]

Oh, except excited.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

So this game is called what's Cultier? It's very simple. Basically, the rules are we're going to name another sounds like a cult topic, and you're going to tell us if it's cultier than Lush. Sound cool?

[Lacey Mosley]

Sounds amazing.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Okay, ready? Lush or Renaissance Fairs?

[Lacey Mosley]

Lush. Yeah.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

I think that Renaissance Fairs, they're a community.

[Lacey Mosley]

They're like people who love to all drink mead and dress all. You know, I'm not gonna call it weird, but, like, they like to get festive with it. I think that's a community.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Lush or Labubu.

[Lacey Mosley]

Oh, I have a Labubu. It was a gift, though. But no judgment. If you buy them, I'm still gonna say Lush because you buy a Labubu and you leave. Now you can collect Labubu. Some people do, but I feel like Labubu has never been. Like, labubu is here for your community. Like, Boo Boo's. Like, buy this. We got a new one. It's red. We got a new one. It's frosty crystals. It's 500. Buy the Boo Boo. So I'm gonna still say Lush.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Labuu doesn't pretend to be good for you at all.

[Lacey Mosley]

No. Labo's like, this is wholly unnecessary.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Okay, ready? Lush or Swifties?

[Lacey Mosley]

Oh, this will get me in trouble. I'm gonna say Swifties because Tay Tay, how you releasing the same vinyl in 16 different colors now? You know you scamming your fans. You know you scamming your fans, why they gotta buy the CD 16 times?

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Swifties is always a really tough cult to be in this game.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah, but they're also one of the best cults out there. Like, honestly, if they put their talents to good use, they could rule the world because they can find out anything about you. They decode all of Taylor's music and every. Like, if she got a red lip on one day, they're like, is that going to be the next? Like, like, you know, yeah, they have energy. They're in a cult.

[Amon Haririkiah]

We need them running counterintelligence on the front line.

[Lacey Mosley]

They need to be in the CIA

[Co-host/Interviewer]

for our apocalyptic war. Okay, ready? Lush or American Girl Dolls?

[Lacey Mosley]

See, that's hard because when I buy a Lush product, I'm leaving with that product, right? If I buy an American Girl doll and it's like, this is little Louisa, she was a slave. Do you want to buy her some new rags? She needs new rags and new shoes for the summertime. And it's like you keep going back and buying more stuff. So I'm going to say American Girl because it's not a one stop shop. You got to keep coming back and get more stuff.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

It's so true. Like, once you're in the cult of American Girl dolls, you. You are fully immersed in a cosplay experience.

[Lacey Mosley]

And you don't want Lil Louisa not to have a winter coat. It's cold.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Lush or Joe Rogan stands.

[Lacey Mosley]

Oh, my goodness. Obviously, Joe Rogan stands. He was like, I don't know, eat horse medicine. And they were like, yes, we will. We will, good sir. Yes, Fear Factor King. Yes, Fear Factor. I'm like, y', all, this man used to make people eat worms and now he a thought leader. Can we be for real? Can everybody be real for real?

[Co-host/Interviewer]

That's so true. So you're, you're going Joe Rogan stance.

[Lacey Mosley]

I'm going Joe Rogan for sure.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

I think you're right there. What about Lush or Duolingo?

[Lacey Mosley]

Ooh, okay, I'm gonna have to Say Duolingo wants to be a better cult than lush, but they're not really pulling it off. You know, I get my threats from Duolingo. I get my guilt trips and all of that, but it doesn't necessarily work. Lush has never been like, hey, girl, been a minute since she bought a bath bomb. You raggedy, you coming back over here or not? They don't do that. So I'm gonna say Duolingo's trying harder, but l succeeding.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

In many ways, Duolingo is the exact opposite of the cult of Lush because it's so mega online.

[Lacey Mosley]

We all know that, Al, even if you've never worked with them.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Lush or the cult of incels.

[Amon Haririkiah]

And this is our final question.

[Lacey Mosley]

Well, I would say that the incel cult is not very organized. They're mostly just, like, forums. They don't really got merch.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

They need that mushroom analogy, right?

[Lacey Mosley]

They need, like, a female woman haters T shirt. Maybe I'll start, like, scamming the incel community and just making some fire Incel merch. No woman, no cry. You know, Incels could use a little

[Co-host/Interviewer]

bit more capitalism, right?

[Lacey Mosley]

They need to leave their basement. Like, what if we just had an incel store and, you know, like, it sold everything, all the body sprays that they need.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

And so I'm scared. I'd be scared to shop at that mall. You've got your lush store on one corner and you have your incel store on the other. Two roads diverge. I'm leaving the mall.

[Lacey Mosley]

Oh, my goodness. I love it. Everything's got to be very, like, overly boycotted. Like, you know how, like, liquid death is boy water? Like, it's literally just water, but they put in a can, like liquid death, because other water is for gays. This is straight man water. So I make the whole, like, store, like, black and austere and a lot of clean lines and a lot of. You know what? This could actually end up being a net positive because if the incels start shopping, that incel the cell, you know, I got to do something that's a little clandestine and. And then put it on 4chan first and be like, have y' all heard of this new store? The sell it's on.

[Sponsor Voice]

Amazing.

[Lacey Mosley]

You have a whole business plan. But then when the incels start coming to the cell, they start meeting other people, and then maybe they get friends, and then maybe I have, like, a little coffee shop in the back so they can start meeting people and have a community, and then they won't be so lonely and mad and weird. And then maybe their lives will get better.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

So to trap the incel store, the Cell actually transforms them into non members of the the inside cult.

[Lacey Mosley]

They become productive members of society. The cell is hosting an event this weekend. Get all the guys together. We're going to make Thanksgiving care packages. Better be there, Chad.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Wow, this is. This is one mall that I need to make sure I am banned.

[Lacey Mosley]

Never go to for life.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Okay, Lacey, it is time for our verdict. Out of all are three cult categories. Live your life.

[Amon Haririkiah]

A watch your back and a get the fuck out.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

What do you think the Cult of Lush falls into?

[Lacey Mosley]

I'm gonna say watch your back, but I wanna say watch the back of your fellow workers. Because if Lush is union busting and doing really unethical things, especially in these dire straits of an economy that we're in, then I wouldn't necessarily want to patronize their business until they made some changes. And maybe that means like somebody making a Lush as a union bust account and like tagging all the influencers and trying to put real pressure for Lush to change his business practices to help the people who work there. Because I don't want them to go out of business. Those are still people's jobs. There's still thousands of employees. And also, you love your bath bomb. I want you to get your bomb. So I think I would just say, like, watch everybody's back a little bit. But on the cult scale, there's way worse cults. And I'm not going to name because I don't want to bring the movie down. So. But yeah, that's.

[Dasha]

I.

[Lacey Mosley]

What?

[Amon Haririkiah]

You know, I think I agree with you because even if the Cult of Lush started out with the best of intentions and the average Lush shopper doesn't know about its culty backstory, you always have to protect workers. And look at the way a company treats its employees. And I do think that a lot of its activism actually distracts from some of its more sketchy practices. Practices including its ingredient lists and where they source them from and all the weird jargon that they use to describe their company structure. So for that reason, I'm also going

[Co-host/Interviewer]

to go watch your back. Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley]

And also if you're pregnant, watch your front too. Because I was reading about the bath bombs and it's like from the company website of what they recommend, they were like, well, you might get more skin irritation or more rashes when you're pregnant. So just be vigilant. I'm like, if it's a possibility for me to get rashes and stuff while I'm pregnant. I should just just not use it.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

That's so true.

[Amon Haririkiah]

Watch your back, wash your front and

[Co-host/Interviewer]

also wash your tub because I am so concerned about the way that these tubs are going to get stained with this brown goo and these glitter bombs.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yes. Love that.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Lacey. Thank you so much for joining us. If our listeners want to follow you and your cult, where can they do that?

[Lacey Mosley]

It can do that in Scam Goddess Pod on Instagram or you can follow me at D I V A L A C I D Valacy on all platforms and Scam Goddess on all platforms too.

[Amon Haririkiah]

Well, culties, that's our show. Thanks so much for listening.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Join us for a new cult next

[Amon Haririkiah]

week and in the meantime, stay culty but not too.

[Amanda Montell]

Sounds Like a Cult was created by Amanda Montel and edited by Jordan Moore of the Pod Cabin. This episode was hosted by Amon Haririkiah. Our managing producer is Katie Epperson. Our theme music is by Casey Kolb. If you enjoyed the show, we'd really appreciate it if you could leave it 5 stars on Spotify or Apple podcasts. It really helps the show a lot. And if you like this podcast, feel free to check out my book, Cultish the Language of Fanaticism which inspired the show. You might also enjoy my other books, the Age of Magical Notes on Modern Irrationality and Word A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language. Thanks as well to our network studio 71 and be sure to follow the Sounds Like a Cult cult on Instagram for all the discourse. Sounds Like a Cult Pod or support us on Patreon to listen to the show ad free at patreon.com sounds like a cult

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Foreign.

[Amon Haririkiah]

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[Lacey Mosley]

I'm not giving up.

[Bob the Drag Queen]

I am selling the building. The final season of FX is the Bear.

[Lacey Mosley]

The restaurant is flooded.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Everything's either going to be okay.

[Amon Haririkiah]

No stop.

[Dasha]

Or not.

[Lacey Mosley]

We are outgunned and we are outmanned. But we have each other.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

FX's the Bear the final season, all

[Bob the Drag Queen]

episodes now streaming on Disney. Welcome to Only Child with me. Your host, Bob the Drag Queen, a multi award winning comedian, drag icon, trader, New York Times bestselling author and incredibly humble person this is my first solo podcast that I'm doing without my annoying little sister. Every week, I sit down with friends, future friends, and people I just met. Comedians, drag queens, reality TV stars, Broadway actors, and many, many more people. Every episode ends with a very important Bob coded question. What's the hell you're willing to die on today? We're gonna get real, but I promise we'll also make you laugh. So let's get into it.