I logged onto Twitter and noticed that Shea Moisture was trending and I just had to find out why. It turns out it’s because of their latest advertising effort that features a loose curl having mixed woman (or maybe she’s Afro-Latina) and a number of Caucasian women talking about how they use Shea Moisture products to combat hair hate and love their hair. Hmmmm.
SheaMoisture is CANCELLED pic.twitter.com/T4Dru1JgAq
— NANA JIBRIL ??️? (@girlswithtoys) April 24, 2017
It’s a cute commercial but it ignores a group of people who feel like they’re the reason why the company has had so much success. Black women. You know the ones with kinky and curly hair textures that are considered unruly and unprofessional to some. The ones who go out and support the company whenever there’s a sale. The ones who’ve been instrumental in the YouTube and blog reviews that influence others to go out and spend money on Shea Moisture products.
The actress proclaims that with Shea Moisture “everybody gets love,” but the commercial doesn’t represent 
everybody. With the exception of the few seconds in which multiple people are shown along with different products, the commercial only shows love to folks with hair that has no problem being accepted by the masses. On Twitter, some black women are questioning the lack of representation and vowing to stop supporting the company entirely because of it. Others feel like “we can’t have anything to ourselves” or that “Shea Moisture has been gentrified.” These thoughts are understandable, but it’s important to acknowledge other factors. A major one is the simple fact that Black-owned businesses don’t have to only appeal to black people.
Let’s be real for a moment here… Shea Moisture is a business and the main goal of most businesses is to earn revenue, right? With the abundance of natural hair care product lines right now, it makes sense for them to want to expand their target market. Black women have more options now than they’ve ever had when it comes to hair care and this could easily lead to a decline in Shea Moisture sales. It makes sense for Shea Moisture to have a line of products that benefit more than one race of people to help ensure their success as a company. The company seems to want to encourage diversity and past campaigns have shown that they strive to break barriers in the beauty industry by having what was once labeled as ethnic or multicultural hair products moved to the traditional beauty section of stores. Their efforts last year were widely celebrated in the natural hair community and their latest advertisement should not take away from that.
This commercial was not the best representation of the diverse consumers that Shea Moisture appeals to. But my psychic senses and love for the brand want me to believe that the one-minute clip folks are ranting about is one of a series of many. Who knows? Maybe this one was meant for publications like Cosmopolitan while the Essence Magazine version is full of melanin. I’m hoping that other commercials in this series (that I’ve imagined in my head) include folks who look more like me and the millions of other women who have experienced our own versions of hair hate and discrimination. As much as I may want to shake my head at the thought of someone with naturally straight or wavy hair having “hair hate,” I’ll just accept that people everywhere face their own challenges and it’s not my place to judge. It’s not yours either. Shea Moisture is attempting to appeal to a large group of people by offering products that benefit various hair types. That should not be a problem.
What do you think? Is this controversial ad worth truly fussing about or do people need to calm down? Will you continue to buy Shea Moisture products?
I feel like I will still buy shea moisture products because it is made for my kinky hair texture. I think I’m just disappointed of course by the lack of representation of women with kinky hairstyles. Also that fact that in order to appeal to people of other races that you have to show less black women or mixed women. This is perpetuating the fact that others cannot truly appreciate black women. And I definitely cannot see how women with straight hair can experience hair hate.