TRESemmé products have been removed from the shelves of Clicks and Checkers stores. Photo: twitter/TRESemmé
TRESemmé hair ad NOT racist, rules Equality Court
A group of black women had taken Unilever and Clicks to the Equality Court over a shampoo advertisement which was deemed racist
TRESemmé products have been removed from the shelves of Clicks and Checkers stores. Photo: twitter/TRESemmé
In a ruling that will likely spark furore, the Equality Court has found that the controversial TRESemmé shampoo advertisement, did not unfairly discriminate against black women.
The ad for the hair product, which was on the retailer Clicks’ website, labelled African hair as “frizzy and dull”, while White hair was considered normal, “fine and flat,” prompting a wave of backlash, including calls for a boycott of both the product and retailer.
Clicks subsequently blamed a junior employee and opted to suspend them along with other staffers who worked on the project. The company said it would be prioritising transformation.
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VICTORY FOR UNILEVER AND CLICKS
As Sunday Times reports, 18 women then took both Clicks and Unilever South Africa, which market and produce the product, to the Equality Court, arguing that the advert was racist . But, the presiding Judge Mokgoatji Dolamo of the Western Cape Equality Court dismissed the matter, finding that the women were not clear whether they were offended by the original ad as it appeared on the Cliks website – or the cropped images of the ad which did the rounds on social media.
In the wake of the scandal, Unilever announced a series of measures aimed to preventing such a saga from occurring again, including by establishing an Advisory Board with internal and external experts to review how its hair products can offer consumers the solutions they want in positive and empowering terms. It also said it would be developing programmes which are aimed at providing support to black hair stylists and small professional salons.
“We were shocked to discover that we had supplied images for the Clicks website that portrayed Black hair as inferior. This was racist and we apologise unreservedly. We immediately began an investigation to understand what happened. At the same time, we began reviewing all the marketing campaigns and images in our South Africa portfolio to make sure they match our commitment to celebrate all beauty and promote Diversity and Inclusion,” said Unilever CEO, Luc-Olivier Marquet, after meeting with government in the wake of the scandal.
