Mielle Organics, the multicultural haircare brand, is facing backlash for using controversial imagery in a recent advertisement.
Mielle Organics apologized for referring to a natural afro as “weak & dull”, while praising good hair as “shiny & strong.”
Mielle Organics urged social media users to swipe the image to see the transformation from weak & dull to shiny & strong.
The troubling imagery is featured in the company’s recent advertisement for the brand’s Rosemary Mint collection.
Critics said the ad’s before-and-after imagery reinforces texturism and negative perceptions of tightly coiled 4C hair.
Monique Rodriguez, founder and CEO of Mielle Organics, sold her company to Proctor & Gamble in 2023. Rodriguez and her husband, Melvin Rodriguez, remain CEO and COO of the textured haircare brand.
But users express disappointment in Black brands for selling out to White-owned corporations.
“They are buying our brands and using them to sell us anti-blackness,” content creator Kiandria wrote on Threads. She called the advertisement “UNACCEPTABLE.”
Rodriguez said she sees the company’s sale as “selling up,” not selling out.
“It’s not about selling out, it’s about selling up in order to grow and scale your company … in order to take that wealth and give back to the community,” she told CNBC Make It.
X users compared the ad to Target’s controversial “minstrel” Halloween costume.
Target apologized and removed the costume from stores. But some members of the Black community believe the costume’s blackface imagery was intentional.