TRESemmé: Clicks campaign ‘meant to celebrate all hair types’
TRESemmé South Africa says the offensive haircare advert published on the Clicks website was meant to celebrate all hair types.
The health and beauty retailer came under fire on Friday for an advert labelling black people’s hair as “dry, damaged, frizzy and dull” and white people’s hair as “normal” in an ad campaign.
The images caused outrage and led to several apologies by the Click Group.
TRESemmé says it was an ad campaign which went wrong, as it was actually meant to celebrate all hair types.
"We are very sorry that the images used in a TRESemmé South Africa marketing campaign on the Clicks website promote racist stereotypes about hair. The campaign set out to celebrate the beauty of all hair types and the range of solutions that TRESemmé offers, but we got it wrong.”
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Clicks to continue operating, "contingency plans put in place"
Clicks issued a statement on Sunday evening, saying the retailer's 880 shops will be trading as normal. "Clicks provides a much needed healthcare service to South Africans and stores will not be closed. Contingency plans have been put in place to ensure the safety of both customers and staff."
The company says the images are not in line with its values.
"TRESemmé South Africa apologises for the offence these images have caused. We also apologise to the Clicks group.
“We are looking into how this happened and why it wasn’t picked up, and we will take all necessary steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have since rejected the apology with the party's leadership deployed to shut down Clicks stores nationwide on Monday.