South African women have turned an offensive haircare advert into a rallying cry to celebrate the beauty of their natural hair. This after an advert by the Clicks Group described natural black hair as “dry, damaged, frizzy and dull”.
The backlash started on Friday when a Clicks advert which described different types of hair started trending. In the advert were pictures of four women: two black and two white.
The advert described the two black women’s hair as, “dry and damaged” and “frizzy and dull”, while the white women’s hair was labelled as “fine and flat hair” and “normal hair”.
The Clicks Group has since taken down the images and issued an apology.
“We acted swiftly and immediately removed the offending images, which were provided by a supplier as part of their marketing campaign,” Clicks’ chief commercial officer Rachel Wrigglesworth said.
“As a brand, we recognise that we have a responsibility to use whatever influence we have to remove implicit and explicit prejudice from society, the workplace, and our advertising.”
TRESemmé South Africa, the brand which was being advertised, has also issued an apology, saying the images do not support the brand’s values.
“The campaign set out to celebrate the beauty of all hair types and the range of solutions that TRESemmé offers, but we got it wrong,” the statement on the company’s website said.
“We are looking into how this happened and why it wasn’t picked up, and we will take all necessary steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
In response to the advert, #clicksmustfall has been trending on social media and women have been posting images of their natural hair, celebrating its beauty.
My hair is not dry, frizzy, dull or damaged… it is normal, beautiful and defines my being. AFRICAN ! #clicksmustfall pic.twitter.com/anUIE4qsnu
— Phumeza Mdabe (@PhumezaMdabe) September 4, 2020
Fine and Flat hair could never 💁🏽♂️ #clicksmustfall pic.twitter.com/RE6VAtfPku
— Sailen Naidoo (@SailenNaidoo) September 4, 2020
And we will continue to flaunt our crowns ✨ #clicksmustfall pic.twitter.com/B9fiatnGXR
— IG: @sgontsana_cpt (@sgontsana_cpt) September 4, 2020
#clicksmustfall @Clicks_SA As for dull and damaged hair, Fuzzy hair you and team are disgrace to our democracy pic.twitter.com/5UX7LSahp1
— Lumka Tamboer (@Lumkatamboer) September 4, 2020
Just here to flaunt my dry, damaged and frizzy hair. #clicksmustfall pic.twitter.com/Hk22py0EN5
— Matefo (@matefo_m) September 4, 2020
my hair is normal hair !! #BlackHairIsBeautiful #clicksmustfall pic.twitter.com/0qqSWn49t8
— ke veryfied ➐ YT: link in bio ❤️ (@ke_veryfied) September 4, 2020
-The Citizen
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