Lush, the cosmetics company known for its Intergalactic and Snow Fairy bath bombs, shone a \u201cbat signal\u201d near California\u2019s State Capitol building last week, encouraging Gov. Gavin Newsom to commute the death penalty.<\/p>\n
The light projection, which was displayed across five floors of windows on the Sacramento high-rise, declared: \u201cCalling Governor Newsom. Time to commute death row.\u201d<\/p>\n
To further \u201cshine a light\u201d on California\u2019s death row, Lush plastered anti-death penalty signage in the windows of its 35 California locations and urged customers to sign a petition calling on Newsom to commute death sentences to life-in-prison sentences. California-based nonprofits U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Responsible Business Initiative for Justice and Clemency California teamed up with Lush for the campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re off to an unbelievable start to 2026 when it comes to politics,\u201d Lush North America\u2019s advocacy and activism campaigner Seth Laxman explained. \u201cIt would be a huge deal for California, the state with the largest death row population, to wipe the death penalty out, to not have the death penalty be the status quo in the state anymore and to push back against the Trump administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Around 560 of those incarcerated in California have death sentences, which Newsom has the power to commute to life-in-prison sentences, Laxman said. Although the state hasn\u2019t held an execution in 20 years<\/a>, the U.S. recorded its highest capital punishment levels in 16 years<\/a> in 2025, following President Trump\u2019s order last January to restore the death penalty<\/a>.<\/p>\n The nine-day, in-house regional campaign may seem out of left field, but Lush has run human rights-focused projects since its start in 1995. This May, Lush shuttered its 113 U.K. locations to bring awareness to starvation rates in Gaza<\/a>. In the past, it suspended product supplies to all 48 Russian locations to support Ukraine<\/a> and partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney to fundraise for trans-led organizations<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever we do something like this, there\u2019s always a thought in the back of our minds saying, \u2018What if there\u2019s a huge blowback? What if it\u2019s a huge controversy?\u2019\u201d Laxman explained. \u201cWith an issue as delicate as the death penalty, the reception has been incredibly positive.\u201d<\/p>\n From January 9 through January 20, Lush reported 414 signatures from customers to commute California\u2019s death row.<\/p>\n