Black Women Express Outrage Over New "tone Deaf," "white-washed" Sheamoisture Ad

Southernbella. said:
Black businesses should be allowed to expand their brand and get all the profits. I haven't seen the commercial but folks are acting like they ridiculed kinky hair. So what if they want to sell to white women too?
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True. I have a soft spot for this company because the founder is from the same country my parents are and my mom knows his family.

Also, I like their deep conditioners.
 
ETA

Let's be real. Their products have a ton of oils in them and are waxy. That's not gonna work for most Caucasian hair. I happen to think this stint to make their products and all "ethnic" products in one aisle and not separated out but under "general beauty" was just part of their marketing plan. "Get me out of the n* aisle and place me in the White aisle where I truly wannabe." They built themselves upon the Backs of his Sierra Leonean culture and AA's (mostly) and now, they have their eyes set on the waves? LOL. They are tone deaf but not at all color blind...because the stale desperation for the not-so-black reads loud and clear.


.
 
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I mentioned this in another thread but SM has created lines for them. I saw it at Target; they had SM in the black hair care section and in the white hair care section.The lines were different. I don't know the correct name but the Rose line (mauve bottle) is for them. They have a purple line and two other colors.
 
I think this ad was tone deaf. And I'll probably go ahead and take back the shea moisture hair masque i just bought.

OriginalMe said:
They say they didn't change their formulations but i don't know... their deeper moisturizer detaingeler no longer works on my daughter's hair. It's gritty now. Had to scrap it for something else.
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My bro bought their shea butter and left it here. But it's so gritty. I don't know if it's b/c it has frankincense & myrrh in it but the raw shea butter i already had is smooth.
 
So, black women only buy from black owned companies when it comes to hair care? Last time I checked, VO-5, White Rain, Joico, Redken, Yes to Carrots, Herbal Essence, etc were not black owned and most of the time do not feature highly textured hair as a selling point. Yet plenty of black women use products from those companies. Did Sheamoisture ever promise they were just for black women and no one else? Sheamoisture is a company and, like most successful companies, they expand and sell to the highest bidder.

Oh welp. Every morning I get out of bed and see myself. Nope. Not erased.
 
FelaShrine said:
weren't they all giving stories on how its best for black businesses to try to get all the coins just last week?

Cant take people here seriously.
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No one is saying that they shouldn't try to get wypipo's money. Get all the money. But they are using a distinctly black experience to sell these products to white women without using black women in the ad. Wen, Pantene and a bunch of other companies manage to sell products to black women and white women without doing that.
 
IronButterfly said:
So, black women only buy from black owned companies when it comes to hair care? Last time I checked, VO-5, White Rain, Joico, Redken, Yes to Carrots, Herbal Essence, etc were not black owned and most of the time do not feature highly textured hair as a selling point. Yet plenty of black women use products from those companies. Did Sheamoisture ever promise they were just for black women and no one else? Sheamoisture is a company and, like most successful companies, they expand and sell to the highest bidder.

Oh welp. Every morning I get out of bed and see myself. Nope. Not erased.
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I think it has more so to do with them not showing the ones who got them to level they are at! San my original post, I think they failed with not displaying core base! They feel left out... As anothr poster stated they have lines for them and Lines for Us so why not put ALL on display
 
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Every time Caroline Hurons (beauty guru) comes to America she empties the shelves of shea moisture body products. Recently I've seen their skincare and body products pop up on white instagram pages as well.

I don't know anyone personally (black or white) that uses their products.
 
IronButterfly said:
So, black women only buy from black owned companies when it comes to hair care? Last time I checked, VO-5, White Rain, Joico, Redken, Yes to Carrots, Herbal Essence, etc were not black owned and most of the time do not feature highly textured hair as a selling point. Yet plenty of black women use products from those companies. Did Sheamoisture ever promise they were just for black women and no one else? Sheamoisture is a company and, like most successful companies, they expand and sell to the highest bidder.

Oh welp. Every morning I get out of bed and see myself. Nope. Not erased.
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I don't care at all if they have ads without black women. That is a nonissue for me. Black owned or white owned is also not the issue.

They have taken the story of the oppressed and the typical black hair experience and made it into the story of the oppressor. I would be annoyed by this even if this company wasn't supported mainly by black women. The fact that they've done this while owing their success to black women is even more disgusting.
 
AnjelLuvsUBabe said:
I think it has more so to do with them not showing the ones who got them to level they are at! San my original post, I think they failed with not displaying core base! They feel left out... As anothr poster stated they have lins for them and Us so why not put that on display
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Are you sure it was only black women who got them where they are because I've seen a LOT of black women (self included) complain about how their products sucked and didn't work on their hair. Also, I know a LOT of white women bought Sheamoisture for their little mixed babies' hair.

Let me ask you this, did Sheamoisture, at any time, advertise their products exclusively for black women? I mean, did they in any way, demonstrate that black women were their core audience, or is this simply an assumption made by those who have bought the products because they worked well with their hair? I mean, who actually established who this "core" base is? Officially.

Because if you know how businesses run, then you don't take expansion personally.
 
Southernbella. said:
Black businesses should be allowed to expand their brand and get all the profits. I haven't seen the commercial but folks are acting like they ridiculed kinky hair. So what if they want to sell to white women too?
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I think it's fine to market to white women and have them in your commercials but the theme of the commercial was 'hair hate is real' so the white women were out of place IMO. They didnt even have a jew fro in there or a nappy haired Arab or Jew or Italian, just 2 straight haired white women talking about hair hate- so odd. Just ironic because kinky hair is the most hated and they have a huge kinky hair fan base so they royally screwed this up IMO. Honestly, if they took out the "hair hate" theme the commercial would be fine.
 
SelahOco said:
Ah!! I see. Their Facebook page is under siege right now and they seem to be ignoring it so far. I love watching how companies navigate in situations like this. Hopefully they get it right cause these women are FURIOUS!
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they will try to placate their core base(Black women) and play victim to their new target audience. Some white women will support them because they are being bullied by angry Black women. They love to fight "reverse racism"
 
Kanky said:
I don't care at all if they have ads without black women. That is a nonissue for me. Black owned or white owned is also not the issue.

They have taken the story of the oppressed and the typical black hair experience and made it into the story of the oppressor. I would be annoyed by this even if this company wasn't supported mainly by black women. The fact that they've done this while owing their success to black women is even more disgusting.
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You'll have to forgive me, but this is not about opression. It is a hair product line. Period. The owner(s) created this sad back story (is it even true?) to sell a product. Not a new gimmick. It worked. Now they've expanded and want fresh meat. Some of ya'll sitting up here acting like Moses reneged on a gig or something. :lachen: Maybe next time, black women won't be so diehard about a hair product until they get an ironclad contract of exclusivity.
 
I'm not gon' lie... I've been having a hell of a time finding moisturizing products for the change in hair texture after chemo. The shea moisture products are the first things that worked. So, I hope I'm not going to have to look for another product line. But I will... I will not support this kind of :censored:!
 
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They have had to sit front row/center for the epic dragging on their FB page. Sistas ain't havin' it. I've never used their products. I bought some from Walgreens last week and my college age daughter(who is natural) came by last night for dinner and went on a sbopping spree. She loves it on her SUPER thick hair.
 
IronButterfly said:
You'll have to forgive me, but this is not about opression. It is a hair product line. Period. The owner(s) created this sad back story (is it even true?) to sell a product. Not a new gimmick. It worked. Now they've expanded and want fresh meat. Some of ya'll sitting up here acting like Moses reneged on a gig or something. :lachen: Maybe next time, black women won't be so diehard about a hair product until they get an ironclad contract of exclusivity.
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This is not about exclusivity or being diehard for a product. I can't tell if you are being dishonest or if the point really went over your head. Either way :look:
 
Is something wrong with their website? It won't come up for me either in Edge or Chrome.

The only tinted moisture I've ever found that matches well and builds is the Shea Moisture one in medium. I can no longer find it on the ground. I went to their site to order some and noticed the site isn't loading for me.
 
FelaShrine said:
weren't they all giving stories on how its best for black businesses to try to get all the coins just last week?

Cant take people here seriously.
Click to expand...

I see the distinction as starting out getting all the coins versus getting black coins until reaching a certain level then being all coins.

It's not exactly unethical it's just distasteful. They've marketed to a certain group for so long then switched up their entire campaign. Like if Ford F150 started marketing to yuppies versus contractors, lol.
 
Kanky said:
No one is saying that they shouldn't try to get wypipo's money. Get all the money. But they are using a distinctly black experience to sell these products to white women without using black women in the ad. Wen, Pantene and a bunch of other companies manage to sell products to black women and white women without doing that.
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This.

sharifeh said:
I think it's fine to market to white women and have them in your commercials but the theme of the commercial was 'hair hate is real' so the white women were out of place IMO. They didnt even have a jew fro in there or a nappy haired Arab or Jew or Italian, just 2 straight haired white women talking about hair hate- so odd. Just ironic because kinky hair is the most hated and they have a huge kinky hair fan base so they royally screwed this up IMO. Honestly, if they took out the "hair hate" theme the commercial would be fine.
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And this.
 
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