What the Hair Was Shea Moisture Thinking

It’s no secret that black women have a unique hair texture. Having this unique hair texture often comes with unique challenges in terms of fitting into beauty and corporate standards. Having hair care lines that support and endorse natural hair (the hair that grows out of our scalps) is an invigorating feeling. Black women feel as though they belong in a certain space when they are given hair care options that cater to them. As popular as the natural hair movement is becoming, it is still common for black women with coarser hair textures such as 4A, 4B, and 4C to be excluded from the conversation that was originally created by them. To give you an idea of what 4A, 4B, and 4C hair looks like I will insert a picture.

“Via https://www.wrightriskconsulting.com/category/4c/”

In April 2017, Shea Moisture, a hair and beauty company dedicated to improving skin and hair (mostly for black women) came under fire for incorporating three white women along with one black woman in a company advertisement geared towards natural hair. The problem is not the fact that white women were included in the advertisement, but the fact that they were the key source of representation. This made little sense to their customers since some of the women in the ad had straight hair, wavy, or very loose curls that do not resemble that of someone with 4A, 4B, or 4C hair. These women proceeded to discuss their dissatisfaction in beauty standards. One woman stated that she is a natural red head, but always dyed her hair blonde (her hair is straight) because she wanted to fit in.

Though these concerns are valid they have absolutely nothing to do with the problems black women face in terms of hair discrimination and come off as very dismissive. Coming from the mouths of white women also does not benefit the advertisement, because they are always regarded as the standard of beauty. This advertisement was an attempt to uplift all hair textures, however, few were highlighted and ultimately regurgitated the same beauty standards that are always shown in the media. In the next section, I will proceed to explain what hair discrimination for black women looks like.

Why Black Women Were Offended

To begin with, a great reference to understanding the importance of hair in the black community is Chris Rock’s “Good Hair” documentary. This documentary discusses some of the reasons why black women go to the extent of paying hundreds, even thousands of dollars within a year to treat, alter, and style their hair. A large component of the obsession of hair in the black community involves the historical social climate in America. This began during slavery and continues through the present day, where black women are often mocked for having stereo-typically stiff, short, coily, and thick hair.

In the present day, black people are told that they cannot have certain hairstyles in corporate America. These styles typically include: afros, dreadlocks, braids, and non traditionally dyed hair (think purple or green). As a result black people, specifically black women attempt to comply with these standards or else they will end up without a job. These results typically yield black women using weaves (that typically fall into the hair texture of Hispanic or Asian women), wigs, relaxers (a product used to permanently straighten curly hair) or extensive styling for their natural hair. These are strives to fit into the standard norm of the white community and to be respected instead of seen as threatening or sloppy by coworkers and society.

Shea Moisture, like many other natural hair brands such as Taliah Waajid, Kinky Kurly, and Cantu specifically cater to black women with natural hair. Products in these natural hair lines typically include: shampoo, conditioner, pomade, gel, butter, curl shine, curl detangler, scalp oil, creams, and custards. Depending on the hair texture, length, and porosity black women combine these products to style their hair in a way that appears “contained” or “professional” if they have natural hair. However, since these products are specifically made for black hair textures (coarse, wooly, thick, and wavy) they don’t damage the hair follicles and promote health.

Even outside of corporate America, black women who have natural hair textures by choice typically enjoy products such as Shea Moisture because it helps them style their hair. When you have a brand that was deemed popular by black women through social media, word of mouth, as well as their money, it can be seen as offensive when the same company decides to practically exclude you from the conversation. Though diversity isn’t a bad thing, as there are white women who have thick and curly hair as well, they are not the primary base of consumers and should not be the promoters of a movement to promote natural hair products because they do not face hair struggles as black women.

Right now, I have weaved hair, not because I am attempting to fit into white beauty standards, but because I’m too lazy to style my natural every day (to wash, detangle, and style my hair can take hours). In addition, I also want to grow out my hair (this is another reason black women also get weaves, because it helps our natural hair grow since it is being untouched for weeks) so I decided to get twists. Though I have never been bullied due to my hair texture, I have heard some of my friends say that they have been asked the infamous question of “why your hair is so nappy?”, “why you don’t have long hair?”, or “why I can’t run my fingers through your hair?” In case you don’t know, the word nappy is an offensive term in the black community that often means your hair looks messy.

As a result, some black women feel as though they have no outlet to turn to when a company they supported because of their strives to dismiss the idea that natural black hair isn’t beautiful is suddenly bombarded by white women who have a hair pattern completely different than their own. This goes back to the importance of listening to your major demographic and target audience. Since many black women did not find representation in the advertisement, they took to social media and began to speculate that Shea Moisture no longer wanted black women to use their products. Black women felt as though they were being pushed out of the safe space they created and as minor as one advertisement may seem, Shea Moisture ultimately had to apologize to the community for their negligent planning when attempting to create a diverse market.

The Apology

Ultimately, Shea Moisture apologized via social media. They decided to release their first apology on all social media platforms. Here is the statement below.

Though the apology comes off as sincere and genuine many people were still disturbed by the advertisement and threatened to discontinue using any Shea Moisture products. Let’s break down the apology. Unlike many companies, Shea Moisture was very blunt about the mistake they made… including having only one black woman (who was biracial) in the advertisement. The reason that I mention that the one black woman shown was biracial is because sometimes these women are utilized to represent the black community in advertisements. Although they are part black, they are often used as the only example of blackness that can be uplifted in a positive light. One of the main positivity’s in their promotions tends to be their wavy to loosely curly hair texture because it isn’t seen as “nappy.” Some black women who are not biracial also share a similar hair texture, however, regarding the general black population, this hair texture only relates to a very specific demographic of black women. Ultimately a population of black women who do not look like them or share the same experiences are still alienated. In addition, there were no other black women in the ad which further alienates their predominate consumer. Shea Moisture acknowledges this and apologizes that they didn’t consider the very different struggles of black women.

After this the company proceeds point out their mistake and thank their followers and consumers for expressing their disdain because they have learned from it. Instead of deflecting the blame on to the consumer (see my previous article on Abercrombie & Fitch for what not to say in an apology), the company took ownership of their mistake and did not attempt to reject the feelings black women had regarding the advertisement.

How Social Listening Ties In

In a way this scenario also ties into crisis communications. Once the advertisement began to gain negative attention, the company proceeded to immediately send out an apology. In addition, the CEO, Richelieu Dennis, appeared on talk shows, such as The Breakfast Club and The Roland Martin show to issue a verbal apology on behalf of the company.

In terms of social listening Shea Moisture took the correct steps to ensure they utilized their social listening skills. As the article titled “Social Listening” featured on TrackMaven.com states, “Social listening is the process of monitoring digital conversations to understand what customers are saying about a brand and industry online.” Once Shea Moisture saw that their customers were unsatisfied with their diversity strives, they removed the ad from their sites and social media pages and issued apologies.

In addition, they also were receptive of positive and negative feedback from the advertisement and apologies. SocialMediaExaminer.com describes this as an improvement of customer care in their article, “8 Ways to Use Social Listening for Your Business.” By acknowledging their core consumers as well as their concerns this ultimately shows that the company is fair and willing to take heed when necessary. Finally, Shea Moisture acknowledged their allies because ultimately black women will always be their predominate users because of the products offered and its benefits. ConvinceandConvert.com describes advocates as “your most valuable assets” in their article entitled “3 Reasons to Dig Deeper In Social Listening.”

Hopefully, your company has never suffered from retaliation as severe as Shea Moisture in this instance. It’s important that you always have a plan in place in case something is mishandled or receives backlash. It’s also important that you check comments under your website and social media pages, because ultimately that is one of the places people are willing to be open and honest about ads, products, and other promotions. Most importantly, consider what is being said and proceed from there.