Clicks should have learnt from the H&M saga

OVER the weekend, I saw an advert from Clicks, and this advert was for the human hair of both black and white people.

What was concerning to me were the words put on the black person’s hair as being dry and damaged, and those on the white person’s hair as normal. The question remains: What was the intention of the advert?

I had to try to align the debacle to the Hofstede’s Six Dimensions of Culture in order to put this in context and help companies understand their cultural biases.

According to one dimension of Hofstede’s Power Distance Index, South Africa scored 49. This score means that people accept a hierarchical order and the centralisation of power.

Furthermore, it has been almost two years since a similar incident happened at H&M. I am highlighting H&M, thinking that all the companies and advertising agencies have learnt a lesson from what had happened.

H&M was a global company that could not escape the backlash across the world, and South Africa was not immune, and this was because its advert was in bad taste.

Recently, Clicks posted an offensive advert, and everyone in South Africa has expressed their distaste. It amazes me that it did not take any lessons from the H&M saga. I would think this was an eye-opener for all companies in South Africa, specifically to treat diversity as an essential factor.

There is a critical need to include everyone, especially those affected by the decision, to get their views about such adverts or events in the future.

Reading the message from Clicks makes me think twice about it being sincere. Why was the advert posted in the first place? Everyone involved didn’t see anything wrong with the advert, that it was in bad taste, needed revision and to be sent back to the advert’s designers. An extract of the apology from Clicks: “We would like to issue an unequivocal apology. We have removed the images which go against everything we believe in. We do not condone racism, and we are strong advocates of natural hair. We are deeply sorry and will put stricter measures on our website.”

What this advert has done is not going to be easily erased. Clicks will need to take all the necessary action to ensure that, as a company, it takes all the steps required to ensure that everyone in the company is aware of its efforts towards a diverse and inclusive society.