Shea Moisture, You “F-ed Up,” But You Really Didn’t Have To

It’s not uncommon for a large brand to take steps towards expanding its target audience.  But when it comes to natural hair care lines that cater to black women, that could prove to be a big no no.  Shea Moisture proved that this week after releasing a few commercials with the message “Break free of hair hate,” featuring two white women sporting straight hair.

The company has become more than a stand out in the natural hair care world.  It’s a fan favorite with a cult following that many companies strive to cultivate.  Let’s just say they aren’t having the best week.

Waiting for Shea Moisture to drop a video of a white girl using their black castor oil edge treatment

— victoria sanusi ?? (@victoriasanusi) April 24, 2017

How Black women are looking at #sheamoisture and #jessiewilliams right now! pic.twitter.com/OA3s4fmVOz

— Rita Anderson (@EmpressRita) April 25, 2017

“Shea Moisture had to diversify their market for financial gain” but AA black women spend 80% more on beauty. ?https://t.co/5dbksHCSZW pic.twitter.com/5nkEf0SeHd

— Neela (@foxyneela) April 24, 2017

To add insult to injury, the company retweeted and thanked Tariq Nasheed for this tweet before issuing an apology:

So yall don’t want 2 boycott businesses like:
*Asian nail shops that beat up BW
*Companies that support Trump
But Shea Moisture is the issue

— Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) April 24, 2017

Sigh…of all people to retweet.

When the company finally realized just how deep of a shit hole it had stepped into, this apology was issued:

Wow, okay – so guys, listen, we really f-ed this one up. 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. So, the feedback we are seeing here brings to light a very important point. While this campaign included several different videos showing different ethnicities and hair types to demonstrate the breadth and depth 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. We are keenly aware of the journey that WOC face – and our work will continue to serve as the inspiration for work like the Perception Institute’s Good Hair Study/Implicit Association Test that suggests that a majority of people, regardless of race and gender, hold some bias towards women of color based on their textured or natural hair. So, you’re right. We are different – and we should know better. 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…

A post shared by SheaMoisture (@sheamoisture) on Apr 24, 2017 at 2:11pm PDT

Despite their attempts to right this colossal wrong, I’m still puzzled.  I get that companies have a right to expand and grow, but when you’re creating products for something as sacred as black hair, why take such a risk.  BLACK WOMEN MAKE FOR BIG BEAUTY BUSINESS.  The proof is in the tweet above.  Beyond the revenue, considering your core audience should be paramount during the course of any expansion.  Shea Moisture knows full well that black hair has been politicized to the point where black women have had to embrace their natural tresses with an ever present middle finger to the establishment.  So for  a beloved brand to feature white women who display the very aesthetic black women have felt pressured to adopt in order to fit into society, all while casting a black woman as a second voice, is beyond comprehension.

So to companies like Shea Moisture, if you feel you must try your hand at crossing over, at least try to be a bit more subtle about it.  Drop it on your consumers in doses until they are able to stomach your new-found branding strategy.  If not, be prepared for damage control.