Cosmetic companies often profit through racism and stereotyping. People have heavily criticized these companies for being racist and allowing such advertisements to be aired and published. Do they do this on purpose or is it unintentional? We’ve had several international brands in the past criticized for hurting people’s sentiments.
The highly famous international brand, Dove, was called out for its racist advertisement.
Ouch. The advertisement shows a dark woman using dove and apparently becoming “clean”. I mean…
And this racist palette has offended quite a few people. Sorry, Ahmed.
In this palette by The Balm Cosmetics, the colors have been given the forename ‘Matt’ with surnames that allegedly correspond to that hue, such as Matt Lin for a yellow tone, Matt Ahmed for a dark black shade, and Matt Kumar for a red brown color. You shouldn’t associate a race with a skin color, period.
Ouch. These companies were then asked to make changes to the advertisements and product names, in order to prevent further backlash from their customers.
Anyway, there’s a Pakistani makeup brand called “Sheaffer Beauty Range” that says they sell “Halal” makeup now.
Great news right? RIGHT? Nope.
The brand launched an “Easy Base” and “Powder Foundation” and we just happened to ntoice that the color chart is REALLY problematic.
So, the color chart assigns the darkest shade is the N-word and the slightly dull shades as “Chinese” and “Oriental”
There’s also a “natural” thrown in there for I guess the sake of comparison.
That’s just…not okay…at all.
The irony is, this ‘halal’ brand but is still actively participating in casual racism. What even?!
For a nation that ridicules dark skin tones and considers being gora the end goal, it’s disappointing but not surprising to see a brand catering to that mindset.
The recent events that have taken place in Pakistan still show that people are not over white or fair being a superior complexion.
A large population of the country still believes that dark skin is something that unfortunate people have to live with. Instead of embracing their beauty, girls are forced into trying all sorts of dangerous treatments in an effort to make their skin whiter. Can one imagine the anxiety faced by this competition between fair and dark?
Isn’t it about time that the voices of the people whose sentiments are hurt by these campaigns reach these brands?
Considering the fact that more than half of the population is dark-skinned, this mindset needs to change. Words like “negro” should never be used so casually, and definitely not sold as a shade for foundation. Influencers can tackle racial discrimination if they spread a positive message about different complexions. However, if these brands do not cater to different complexions, dark skin tones will never stop feeling abnormal.
What do you think of this halal makeup brand and its racist AF ‘Easy Base’? How on Earth do these companies get away with it? Let us know in the comments section.
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