The Controversial Rise of Moroccanoil: From Hair Salon in Tel Aviv to International Lawsuit

“It all started in Israel. When Carmen Tal’s hair was damaged after a color treatment, it turned out to be a blessing. A stylist at a hair salon in Tel Aviv saved Tal by treating her hair with argan oil. He was saved immediately. “

So explaining The Jerusalem Post The history of Moroccanoil from its origins. Carmen Tal then lived in Montreal (Canada), where she ran her own hair salon. Together with her husband Ofer Tal at the time, she bought the Israeli company that sold the oil and called it ‘Moroccanoil Israel’.

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Lawsuit

The name of the oil is not so long: the argan tree only grows in the south-west of Morocco, where women have been harvesting and pressing the seeds for centuries. But the choice sparked controversy in Morocco. When the brand broke through internationally, the Moroccan oil producers association asked the government to take legal action. Because argan oil is a protected product, compared to champagne: a wine can only be called sparkling if it really comes from the Champagne region. Moroccanoil’s argan oil is said to be harvested in Morocco itself, but the products are ‘made in Israel’.

There was never a lawsuit with Morocco, because Moroccanoil existed before argan oil was geographically protected. But the company itself has already filed several complaints against companies that wanted to use the word ‘Moroccan’. Against Aldi, for example, because there are blue bottles of ‘Moroccan Argan Oil’ on the shelves in Aldi’s Australia. Aldi countered by filing a counterclaim that a purely descriptive name such as ‘Moroccanoil’ could be a registered trademark. In both cases, the plaintiffs were wrong: ‘Moroccanoil’ is still registered, and Aldi can continue to use ‘Moroccan Argan Oil’ as well.

Bad news, curly heads

Moroccanoil is on the list of the Canadian NGO CJPME, which fights for the Palestinian cause and provides tips on its website on how to boycott Israel. “They have some results to do in Israelbut the company refuses to say whether they are made in residential areas,” she said. A report on CNN mentioned a factory “two hours north of Jerusalem.”

It is all these elements that lead to a lot of resistance on the Internet against the fact that an Israeli company is the main sponsor of the Eurovision Song Contest. “Bad news, curly heads: Moroccanoil is to do in Israel “, it sounds, among other things. On many forums and social media channels, Internet users are calling for a boycott of the brand. Some point to the origin of the main sponsor as the reason why Israel is allowed to participate in the song contest despite all the objections.The company itself is staying out of the discussion.