Hair-raising Clicks ad ‘insensitive’

NAMIBIAN consumer activist Michael Gaweseb yesterday said an advertisement by South African retail pharmacy company Clicks was insensitive, considering the diverse nature of society.

The retailer has issued an apology over an advertisement which was on their website and was attacked for displaying racial innuendos on black women’s hair.

The images from hair care products company TRESemmé’s South African marketing campaign had pictures of African hair labelled as frizzy, dry, dull and damaged, while an example of a white person’s hair was described as fine, flat and normal.

Gaweseb said it would be difficult to assume the racial message was intended, however, marketing specialists sometimes use tactics that create shock and attention as they believe this to have long-term benefits, although this might be unethical and perhaps illegal to do so.

“As per their own admission there is no excuse. However, in general, the biggest discriminatory practices, at least in Namibia, is amongst blacks in terms of tribalism, which is by far the most serious crime to humanity compared to corruption regardless of how undesirable that too is,” he said.

Women activist Martha Herman said the advertisement reinforced negative views that black women generally have about their hair and the retailer should have known better than posting the images it used, especially coming from a country where the majority of the population is black.

“The worst image for me was saying that white straight hair is normal as if our hair is not normal. That sort of shows where their mindset is at in what qualifies as normal hair or good hair which are things that don’t have anything to do with race, colour or hair type and more on healthy hair. But clearly they think that healthy hair is not black hair,” she said.

could not get comment from Clicks Namibia on whether the controversial advert has affected their business.

The Clicks advertisement has caused uproar in South Africa, where 37 of the retail chain’s stores were targeted by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) protests in the KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Limpopo and Western Cape provinces.

According to News24, seven Clicks stores were damaged during the protests. The retailer is reported to have threatened to take legal action against the perpetrators.

EFF chairperson Veronica Mente was quoted as saying the protests were not about hair but about the dignity of black people which is not respected. “It’s very easy for them to use a black person’s dignity, drag it on the floor and use it as something that is not proper,” Mente said.

In Clicks’ apology, the group’s chief executive officer, Vikesh Ramsunder, yesterday said in an open letter it has suspended the negligent employees and engaged the supplier, TRESemmé.

Ramsunder further said the incident has highlighted the need to audit all third-party and Clicks’ own promotional material for any implicit or explicit bias as well as the need for diversity and inclusivity training for all of their head office employees.

“As group CEO of Clicks, I am deeply disappointed that we allowed insensitive and offensive images to be published on our website. I apologise unreservedly for the hurt and anger these images have caused,” he said.

“Clicks offers product ranges for all hair types, including building the natural hair market over the past three years to offer even more choice,” he said.

The retailer also stated on its website that it would be donating to an organisation that empowers women and children affected by poverty.

TRESemmé also issued an apology on Friday, stating that the campaign set out to celebrate the beauty of all hair types and the range of solutions they offer, but that they got it wrong.

“The images are not in line with the values of our brand, or of Clicks. TRESemmé South Africa apologises for the offence these images have caused. We also apologise to the Clicks group,” the company stated.

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