Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps - Part 2

How is the company surviving the 21st century?

In Part 1, I hoped to have painted a picture of Dr. Bronner as an Ideas man above all else. Sure, he had the skills necessary to make a decent soap product but it was secondary to his message. His family came a distant third to that same message while operational requirements of running the whole Dr. Bronner's magic soap outfit came fourth.

After a brush with near bankruptcy, Emil Bronner registered the company as a tax-exempt, religious organisation. However, the good doctor failed to keep the paperwork up to date and the Internal Revenue Service was less than pleased. With just over a million dollars in fines levied, his youngest son James alongside James' wife Trudy took the reins and made it a for-profit company. James was no slouch in the Chemistry department himself; he invented a fire-fighting foam for Monsanto of which a variation known as SnoFoam is still used on Hollywood sets and festivals to this day to create fake snow. Trudy, on the other hand, seems to be the true financial mind by coordinating the payment of $2.5 million owed in inheritance taxes and steering the company from $4 million in annual revenue in 1998 to $129 million in 2019.

Source| Dr. Bronner's Magic Foam Experience

The introduction of ex-Naval Officer James and straight-laced Trudy in the 1990s might have signaled the end of Dr. Bronner's association with all things counterculture. In the documentary Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox, Chief Financial Officer Trudy did her best to convince viewers that even the normies and squares enjoyed Dr. Bronner products but Dr. Bronner also held fairly right-wing or conservative beliefs about communism and drugs. Even his beliefs in the All-on-God-Faith are fairly Judeo-Christian.

Who knew that it would be the third generation of Bronner's who, by doubling down and leaning into their brand ethos, would help the company weather the first decades of the 21st century. Both of James' sons joined the family business with Michael Bronner now serving as company president while David is the CEO or Cosmic Engagement Officer. Daughter Lisa promotes the company's work in the fair trade and sustainability sectors.

Michael is a huge advocate for the legalisation of hemp. David Bonner is also a critic of drug prohibition and is engaged in activism for the legalisation and research into psychoactive substances. He has donated $5 million dollars to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (a group for which he is the member of its Board of Directors) and another two million dollars in Oregon towards the initiative to legalise Psilocybin-assisted therapies. The company truly practices what it preaches here by being one of the first in the United States to offer ketamine therapy as part of its employee health care coverage, largely motivated by Michael's own experience with the drug (click here to learn more about the position of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists on ketamine in psychiatric practice). This isn't cheap as treatments can cost between $3000 to $4000 USD per employee over a six-week treatment; 21 employees and their family members have already signed up. The company hopes to add MDMA and psilocybin therapy to their health care plan pending FDA approval.

Amongst other employee benefits are a vegan cafeteria, access to electric-vehicle charging stations, $7500 in child-care assistance, and annual bonuses of up to 10% of their pay. The company also has a self-imposed pay cap on executive pay with Michael and David earning $300,000; top salaries cannot exceed that of the lowest-paid worker with five years on the job. The company also gives away between a third to 45% of its profits.

The Bronner grandchildren have expanded the political activism of their company to include GMO labeling, fair minimum wage, climate action, organic and fair trade standards for products in the US, and regenerative farming practices.

Despite this feel good corporate package, there are still a few things for a good skeptic to be…well…skeptical about. There will be pedants in our readership who will be stuck on the 18-in-1 claims for usefulness. Others will poke holes in the agricultural and psychedelic stance when it still cannot eliminate plastic from its production line. For all that has been publicly shared about Dr. Bronner there is other stuff that remains semi-hidden such as his homophobic comments and being nude in front of an employee. Some may feel a certain kind of way about them offering a $1000 incentive to motivate the 40% of their employees who remained unvaccinated to get the jab instead of a mandate.

And then there is the fluoride-free toothpaste. In his letters to the FBI, Emil Bronner did love to accuse the Russians of poisoning the water supply with fluoride. While made with 70% natural ingredients, none are touted for their cavity-fighting powers but rather their polishing and soothing abilities. However, if you are using the conventional Dr. Bronner's castile soap to brush your teeth, which obviously lacks fluoride, then maybe the toothpaste is a preferable taste alternative. In her video about the toothpaste Lisa Bronner had her guest, Dentist and orthodontist Dr. Marissa Muñoz, state that there was enough exposure to fluoride through our water supply and thus not required in toothpaste.

Source| Dr. Bronner's All-one Toothpaste

All told, Dr. Bronner's has become more controversial and provocative as time goes on and, somehow, is able to maintain a broad appeal. While this skeptic finds more good than bad in this company, its idealism has taken it down some pseudoscientific paths.

And that's just the way they like it.