Shea Moisture isn’t often confused with PepsiCo.
But, like the soda giant just a few weeks ago, the beauty brand has been forced to issue an apology in the face of mounting criticism over an ad its long-time customer base finds very distasteful.
First, let’s take a look at the commercial in question:
As you can see, the spot opens with an African-American woman who says she was mocked throughout the years for her natural curls.
The video then transitions to a blonde woman who explains that she didn’t “know what to do” with her hair, followed by a redheaded woman complaining about dyeing her locks.
The overall message here is for people to “break free from hair hate.”
Unlike that horrid Kendall Jenner ad, It may be difficult to understand the controversy behind this commercial at first.
A bit of background helps:
The company was founded by Richelieu Dennis, who came to the United States from Liberia and who has always focused on women of color.
As a result, those who have used and followed Shea Moisture for years believe this spot is an example of the company turning its back on its roots in the black community.
Critics think the above commercial is an affront Shea’s core customer.
Others don’t fault Shea for certain aspects of the ad, but believe the company wasn’t really seeing the big picture:
“Seeing Shea Moisture make a campaign trying to expand their brand to white people by getting rid of their target audience is upsetting,” wrote another user.
And these critiques didn’t fall on deaf ears.
In an usual move, not only did the company yank this commercial… it issued a detailed, honest, sort of hilarious mea culpa in response.
“Wow, okay – so guys, listen, we really f–ked this one up,” Shea wrote on Facebook, adding at length:
“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.”
The statement concluded:
While this campaign included several different videos showing different ethnicities and hair types to demonstrate the breadth 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.
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…
Pretty good response, right?
The Facebook post above has been Liked nearly 6,000 times in just a few hours, so it looks as if the company is on the right track.
