The Proctor & Gamble company, which makes Queen Latifah's make-up line for women of color (the CoverGirl Queen Collection), has just launched an interesting new campaign called: My Black is Beautiful.
This political-marketing campaign seeks to remedy the feelings black women have about negative self-perceptions of their beauty, and how they are perceived and portrayed negatively by others and the media.
There is a tab on the Web site called 'The Movement,' and a link called 'The Manifesto.' These are some strong, fighting words for a marketing campaign and a middle-of-the-road company. Yet, they are seeking to tap into what has essentially been a ticking time bomb of black female emotions that has gone unexpressed in public forums for centuries: our feeling that the collective that we are a part of does not find us beautiful, gorgeous, desirable, or feminine on a deep level.
While this campaign is clearly aimed at getting black women to buy their products, Proctor & Gamble has also donated $50,000 to organizations seeking to empower African-American girls.
Is this the right thing for P&G to do, in this way? Should a corporate operation seek to promote our cause? Is this just a superficial show of support?
I personally believe that the issue of black female self-esteem as expressed through beauty is too serious a topic for an advertising campaign, but I don't see anyone else doing it.
Read the manifesto. Will you participate in My Black is Beautiful?
1. I ALWAYS CONSIDERED MYSELF AS A BLACK WOMAN BEAUTIFUL, SO I DON'T NEED A CAMPAIGN TO TELL ME THAT. IT'S ALL ABOUT MONEY AND PREYING ON WOMEN OF COLOR THAT DON'T HAVE SELF CONFIDENCE IN THEIR SELF.
LORRAINE at 3:42PM on Sep 27th 2007