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TRESemmé hair ad angered South Africans still hurting from racist past

TRESemmé hair ad angered South Africans still hurting from racist past

NQOBILE DLUDLA SITTING in a hair salon as a stylist braids her natural hair, Sana Sebone recalls a time in 2013 when she worked on a construction site and was told her dreadlocks were too long and represented a hazard. She was upset, she said, mainly because her white colleagues with long hair were not told the same as their hair was considered "normal". Seven years on, that term is haunting her again after an advert was released by TRESemmé, a Unilever brand, describing images of African Black hair as "frizzy and dull" and "dry and damaged" while a white…
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Unilever South Africa takes further steps after ‘racist’ TRESemmé advert

Unilever South Africa takes further steps after ‘racist’ TRESemmé advert

THE South African unit of Unilever will set up an advisory board and a diversity committee after apologising for a hair care advert which it admitted was "racist", the consumer group has announced. The advert by its TRESemmé brand was posted on drugstore Clicks Group's website last Friday, and described images of African black hair as "frizzy and dull," while a white woman's hair was referred to as "normal". It caused an outcry on social media and sparked protests led by the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in a country where unfair treatment of black hair evokes painful memories of…
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Unilever South Africa to pull all TRESemmé products for 10 days over ‘racist’ ad

Unilever South Africa to pull all TRESemmé products for 10 days over ‘racist’ ad

NQOBILE DLUDLA UNILEVER has agreed to pull all its TRESemmé hair care products from South African retail stores for 10 days as a show of remorse for a "racist" ad, the consumer group said in a joint statement with an opposition political party. Some retailers had already begun removing the products over the advert by TRESemmé, posted on drugstore Clicks Group's website on Friday. It described images of African black hair as "frizzy and dull," and "dry and damaged" while a white woman's hair was referred to as "normal". It caused an outcry on social media and sparked protests led…
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Supermarket giants pull offensive product off their shelves

Supermarket giants pull offensive product off their shelves

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER Following a massive public outcry over a racist advert, three South African supermarket giants - Shoprite, Pick n Pay and Woolworths - have joined health and beauty chain Clicks and removed hair products from TRESemmé from their shelves. The step by Shoprite, Pick n Pay and Woolworths followed a harrowing three days for Clicks after it was forced to shut its doors by protests led by South African opposition party, the Economic Freedom Front.  Clicks non-executive director Nkululeko Gobodo has said, in a radio interview, that while Clicks understood that people were angry because of a racist…
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South African retailer Clicks shuts its doors and removes TRESemmé products from shelves over racist advert

South African retailer Clicks shuts its doors and removes TRESemmé products from shelves over racist advert

TANISHA HEIBERG SOUTH Africa's Clicks Group has shut its doors after two days of protests by members of the Economic Freedom Fighters and would use the time for the counselling of workers who bore the brunt of the demonstrations. Clicks non-executive director Nkululeko Gobodo said in a radio interview that while Clicks understood that people were angry because of a racist advert on one of the products sold at its stores, the company was concerned about the trauma endured by the staff. Earlier, Clicks announced that it will remove TRESemmé products, a Unilever Plc brand, from its shelves after an…
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