A shampoo company famous for catering to women of color wound up pulling an ad and apologizing to its customers after featuring white women in a promotional video.
Shea Moisture, which produces hair products used by women with naturally coily and curly hair, released a promotional video on its Facebook page; the ad at one point had a caption reading, “Fact: hair hate is real.” The ad showed a blond woman with straight hair complaining about her hair, as well as another white woman with slightly wavy red hair moaning that she felt pressured to dye her hair blond.
That did it; a writer for madamenoire.com snapped, “There’s no legitimate argument for the blatant erasure of African American women who made the brand what it is.” A writer for BET: “Yes, we know good hair is for everyone, but that is why companies that cater specifically to Black women need to exist – because so many of the products out there do not.” A Twitter user wrote, “The Shea Moisture fiasco should be proof that we aren’t exaggerating. We really can’t have anything to ourselves.”
Other slams on Twitter:
Shea Moisture backed off immediately, pulling the ad. The company issued an tearful apology on Facebook that read:
Wow, okay – so guys, listen, we really f-ed this one up. Please know that our intention was not – and would never be – to disrespect our community, and as such, we are pulling this piece immediately because it does not represent what we intended to communicate. You guys know that we have always stood for inclusion in beauty and have always fought for our community and given them credit for not just building our business but for shifting the beauty landscape. So, the feedback we are seeing here brings to light a very important point. While this campaign included several different videos showing different ethnicities and hair types to demonstrate the breadth and depth of each individual’s hair journey, we must absolutely ensure moving forward that our community is well-represented in each one so that the women who have led this movement never feel that their hair journey is minimized in any way. We are keenly aware of the journey that WOC face – and our work will continue to serve as the inspiration for work like the Perception Institute’s Good Hair Study/Implicit Association Test that suggests that a majority of people, regardless of race and gender, hold some bias towards women of color based on their textured or natural hair. So, you’re right. We are different – and we should know better.
Thank you all, as always, for the honest and candid feedback. We hear you. We’re listening. We appreciate you. We count on you. And we’re always here for you. Thank you, #SheaFam, for being there for us, even when we make mistakes. Here’s to growing and building together…
Richelieu Dennis, chief executive of Sundial Brands, whose mother just happens to be biracial, told The Washington Post that Sundial is not attempting to “abandon” its traditional constituency. He said, “Their sentiment – of wanting to make sure that the brand is no longer focused on them and is leaving them behind – is simply not correct and accurate. We continue to stand for women of color. We continue to service them. We are not changing anything. We’re overwhelmingly innovating for them.”
“Please know that our intention was not – and would never be – to disrespect our community, and as such, we are pulling this piece immediately … “
Shea Moisture
This isn’t the first time Shea has engendered the wrath of its black consumers; in February 2015, the company featured Twitter ads with white and Asian babies and children; MadameNoire called the ads “jarring.” The Post reports, “Last September, the company again faced backlash after announcing its new ‘strategic partnership’ with Bain Capital Private Equity, a firm founded by former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Sundial’s reassurances that it would remain ‘majority family-owned and operated’ weren’t enough to escape accusations of ‘selling out’ and abandoning black consumers.”