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This is a sensitive issue because of the deep wounds caused by the apartheid segregationist regime.
South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters Party (EFF) Monday called to boycott all the stores of the company Clicks, which published racist advertisements for hair products.
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The Johannesburg’s High Court ordered the EFF members to refrain from performing direct actions against the company. Nevertheless, they insisted on intensifying their efforts to ensure that Clicks stores do not open to the public.
The ads, which denigrated the characteristic "afro hair" of the Black people, were displayed on the Clicks website and belonged to the United States’ brand TRESemme.
Black women's hair was described as frizzy, dull, and damaged, while white women's straight hair was labeled as normal.
#clicksadvert #clicksmustfall #ClicksShutdown
— Khutjo Mohonoe (@Factor_Da_Kay) September 8, 2020
If black people in South Africa could stand together regardless of our tax brackets, we'd boycott Clicks through distancing ourselves from their stores. Everyone who hates racism would follow. pic.twitter.com/z2Sk9VT8Yr
Clicks issued a statement apologizing for the ads and announcing that the company will discharge those responsible for the campaign.
Minister of Small Business Development Khumbudzo Ntshavheni pointed out that to pull down the adverts and issue a public apology about it is not enough.
She stated Clicks must remove all TRESemme products from its shelves as an expression of its disassociation with suppliers who promote racist and insensitive marketing.
In early 2018, a similar controversy arose over when an advertisement from the Swedish clothing chain H&M showed a Black boy wearing a sweatshirt with the slogan "The coolest monkey in the jungle."
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