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Whiteness will no longer be an ideal of beauty. This is the strategy that the French cosmetics giant l’Oréal has thought of, by interacting with the recent anti-racist demonstrations around the world. On Saturday, the company announced the withdrawal of names such as “white”, “whitening” or “clear”, which will no longer be found on products that standardize the complexion.
Cited by RFI, Béatrice Collin, professor of strategy and specialist in the group, indicates that this approach breaks with certain ambiguities. “L’Oréal has for several years really tried to promote the diversity of all beauties – we see this especially in the choice of their muses. We really have this feeling that L’Oréal suddenly realized that there was a paradoxical situation between its products on the one hand and its positioning on diversity on the other. The beauty market is one of the most sensitive to social networks and it is really strategic. In my opinion, that’s why we had such a quick and abrupt decision. ” she declares.
This approach has been criticized by some users of social networks. However, other brands have gone further than l’Oréal, by withdrawing from the market their products labeled “whitening”, while awaiting to replace them.
Neutrogéna or even Unilever have also positioned themselves in favor of approaches erasing certain racist charges trivialized in marketing.
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