Racism: Italian beauty brand comes under fire for racist nail polish

The European beauty brand accused of overt racism for tone-deaf nail polish name

Another day, another brand making a huge error by using racism as a means of getting free marketing. This time, Italian beauty brand 'Wycon' has come under fire for racist nail polish. They named their black gel nail polish 'Thick as a N*gga' and the internet was not having it.

Fresh from the H&M 'Coolest Monkey in the Jungle' scandal, you would think brands would think twice about the language they use however, Wycon's huge misstep brought the brand under some heavy critcism.

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Founded in 2009 by Gianfranco Satta and Rafaella Pagano, the brand is available for purchase in Greece, Bulgaria and Portugal, among others.

Italian beauty vlogger Loretta Grace who was among the first to point out the racially-charged language used by the company to market its black nail polish. Her social media post fuelled a firestorm of critique.

In response to the backlash, Wycon released an initial statement saying: They’re made-up names that are a bit crazy.

As the negative responses began to pour in and the issue generated more media attention, they released a second statement which said:

We’re sorry that this post has triggered these types of reactions: every color from our Gel On collection is inspired, with a cheerful attitude and a pinch of naivety, by famous song titles, many of which derive from the landscape of hip hop.

For example “Drop it like it’s hot” by Snoop Dogg, “Bootilicious” (sic) by Beyoncé (sic), “Candy Shop” by 50 Cent, Lollipop, Lady Marmalade etc … The reference here is “Thick Nigga” (sic) by DBangz. Wycon is the brand for everybody #nobodyexcluded is our motto and we didn’t mean to offend anybody!”

The non-apology was chased up by the following Instagram post.

It's hard to believe that brands do not understand the power of their words and the responsibility they have to ensure that they do not use discriminatory, sensitive or offensive language.

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Is racism a new marketing ploy? Are these brands really trying to profit from black anger and public outrage? If so, it seems that the issues we have surrounding racism, not just in the beauty industry but far beyond are far more profound than we initially thought.

source http://www.pulse.ng/lifestyle/beauty-health/italian-beauty-brand-comes-under-fire-for-racist-nail-polish-id7879619.html