TRESemme Products Removed From Shelves
A number of stores have removed TRESemme products after a racist advertisement.
The advertisement, commissioned by the TRESemme hair company and carried on the Clicks pharmacies’ website, compared two photos of Black women’s hair with two photos of white women’s hair, labelling the Black women’s hair “dry and damaged” and “frizzy and dull”, while the white women’s hair labelled was “fine and flat” and “normal”.
Clicks removed all TRESemmé products in response to the advert.
TRESemmé has apologised for the offence its campaign caused.
Retailers such as Checkers, Pick n Pay as well as Dischem have also removed all Tresemme products from their shelves.
Clicks took the decision to suspend all employees responsible for publishing the advertisement and it accepted the resignation of a senior executive.
The advertisement caused an outcry on social media and sparked protests led by far-left opposition party the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) which demanded stores be shut nationwide for at least a week.
On Monday, the High Court dismissed Clicks’ first bid to interdict the EFF’s protest action outside its stores.
Later in the evening, the retailer launched a second bid which was successful.
According to the interdict, the EFF or its supporters may not intimidate and threaten employees of Clicks working at its shops or any of its operations; intimidate and threaten Clicks’ customers visiting its shops, or incite violence against the ordinary commercial operations of Clicks.
The advertisement also drew criticism from the government with the minister for Small Business Development, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, rejecting Clicks’ apology saying it was “meaningless” and called for the TRESemme products to be removed from its shelves.
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