This is NOT our best picture day.
When Champ sent me the link to Clutch Magazine’s article entitled Carol’s Daughter Inks Major Promo Deal with Cassie, Solange Knowles and Selita Ebanks, I actually laughed for a solid five minutes. Not at the article, but I began predicting the responses that would most certainly exist in the comments section.
But let’s start at the top with this. I don’t know much about Carol’s Daughter products. There’s a store here in Washington, DC (well Arlington, VA) , in Pentagon City Mall that seems earth-toned out and I’m pretty sure people that work there are required to wear linen. A lot of linen. What else do I know? I know Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, and Jay-Z (and Beyoncé too?) are either co-owners or bought into the company. Kind of like they did with the Fela Kuti Broadway show in NYC. I know that many Black women love Carol’s Daughter products because they are apparently making products for us (with us being women…of which I’m not one, but you get my point. Pencil).
Now here’s my perception of Carol’s Daughter. I view it as a company that intended to cater to the Black women as a whole, and one that our sisters could support, laud and appreciate. Basically, I view(ed) it as a company that would be more likely to create products that support the whole Black woman experience, from natural to permed to whatever else Black women do with their hair. This is my perception.
Which is why I laughed so hard when I saw Cassie (looking like she ate something REALLY sour before this photoshoot), Solange looking her worst almost ever, and Selita Ebanks aka The Bird Arse Bird from the Runaway short film. The one company that you would think would buck the trend of doing what everybody expects (hiring light skint ninjas for their promo materials for a company that’s focus is African-Americans) is just like everybody else (read: white companies). Which is sad in a way, and kind of humorous in the sense that, wow, even when we run the show, we STILL do what white people do.
I remember a long time ago I wrote a post about the show Kevin Hill (starring everybody’s favorite Taye Diggs…too lazy to find it now liz linked it here for me) and the complaints that all of the women he dated on the show were lightskint. My argument then was that, well, at least they’re Black. We’ve got bigger fish to fry. Instead of complaining about which Black women didn’t get the call, we should be glad that any Black women are getting the call period to be on television in a positive role. But you know what? That was a white company controlling the factors of production and calling the shots. Their house, their rules.
Carol’s Daughter is a Black owned company (as far as I know) and could take the opportunity to hire some women who are more representative en masse of the Black women in our community. And that’s not to say they shouldn’t hire any light skinned women. That would be just as idiotic as the current campaign, but there are definitely women of a darker hue in a somewhat public limelight who I’m sure would be interested in representing and/using the product line. Now it’s possible they reached out to a lot of women who turned them down. Let’s be real, Cassie, Solange, and Selita Ebanks aren’t exactly the A-list of Black community women. If it wasn’t for this article, I would have forgotten that all three of them existed seeing as I rarely visit any gossip sites and haven’t watched Runaway since it debuted. So maybe they reached out to Kelly Rowland (not likely if Beyonce is involved) or Gabrielle Union (not likely since she works for Cover Girl or something) or pick your brownskinned beauty. Maybe they got shot down.
Maybe their budget was too small to get a bigger name. I don’t know. But I do find it odd.
Now, of course, Black women in the few comments I did read went off and swore off the products, etc. Which is a bit premature if you ask me. Who knows what the future holds for the company and its ad campaigns. Also admittedly, I didn’t really read the comments, moreso skimmed, but the truth is, if we were to stop supporting companies that didn’t represent us fully in their ad campaigns, we’d be naked and eating juices and berries. Hell, some companies go so far as to make mockeries of us “cough*McDonalds*cough*. But we keep going there. So we’re going to stop supporting an actual Black owned company because of the choices another Black woman made?
Again, I had to step back and realize, their house, their rules. Could she have hired India.Arie? Yes. Did she? Nope. She still makes a product a lot of us can use and benefit from, right?
I don’t know that this will cause any real ripple effect or actual loss of support or sales. And really, I think it won’t. It’s pretty much a non-starter, but it does bring up a larger point about Black social responsibility.
If you have the ability to control the images put out of Black people, do you have a responsibility to the community to make it as fully reflective of the entire community as possible? What is the Black responsibility? Does it even exist? Does Lisa Price owe it to Black women to have a fuller representation of her products consumers in her ad campaigns?
Talk to me.
-VSB P aka THE ARSONIST aka TANGLE JIG P aka PLYMOUTH RICO aka GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRL HE A 3
“Does Lisa Price owe it to Black women to have a fuller representation of her products consumers in her ad campaigns?”
Short answer, hell yes she does. She has no problem taking money from various hues of black women, but she can’t rep us in her ads? EPIC FAIL!
As an ex-employee of Carol’s Daughter Corporate, the latest development is no surprise. What people fail to realize is that Lisa Price in now the MINORITY owner of her company, and all of the shots are being called by a white conglomerate. So, essentially, Carol’s Daughter is a ‘black’ company no more, and hasn’t been for quite some time.
boom.
When I saw this typed I thought about Tasha Smith in WDIGM…I wanted to find the gif but the plantation got me on lockdown…I’m lucky to be able to get on here.
KMN
LOL, me too KMN!! The way she said it was so funny I now know no other way to say “boom.”
But yeah, I had no idea she no longer owned the majority! That’s too bad. At first I thought that the increase of price was because it was getting expensive for her to keep using the natural ingredients, but now it seems like since those ingredients aren’t even being used anymore and the sale, it’s mostly just about… greed. Sigh.
LOL! I am happy you were able to break away from Massa for a quick minute! Don’t let him know you know how to read!!!
WOWWWWW!!! Really??? She sold her majority ownership? This saddens me. But then again, I stopped buying Carol’s Daughter stuff last year when I looked on the bottle and the once organic ingredients were replaced by a LONG list of stuff I couldn’t pronounce.
But still. I didn’t realize Lisa Price was no longer calling the shots. Damb.
But then again, I stopped buying Carol’s Daughter stuff last year when I looked on the bottle and the once organic ingredients were replaced by a LONG list of stuff I couldn’t pronounce.
^^^^
So did I. And that’s a shame because when the products first came out, I was all over it and it was actually good on my natural hair. Since then, some of the product formulas have changed and I stopped buying them because it did nothing for me.
Cosign on the stoppage of buying it…I got some as a gift in 2007 and it made my hair smell funny…had to go back to using juices and berries and shea butter in the tub from the street.
This whole sitch is kinda jacked though, they could have represented harder for different skin tones AND hair textures…I dont see anyone with tight TIGHT kink in that photo, or anyone with DREADLOCKS (hellooooo) or anyone with dark(er) skin. They have plenty of people to choose from…what about alek wek? what about majora carter? these are people who actually DO THINGS. if they are going to get women who are best know for being side-pieces to moguls (Cassie to Diddy, Solange to Beyonce, Selita for being a bird), they might as well get REAL women.
*steps off of soapbox*
Unfortunately… I’ve never seen anyone with ‘locs being represented by Carol’s Daughter or hell, by the majority of “black-specific” products…
I used Carol’s Daughter products when they were still located in the humble little shop in Brooklyn. back when everything they created was actually natural and actually worked… as soon as they went “mainstream”, I stopped supporting the company because all of the products smelled and worked differently… now they’re owned by white folk… big ole sigh.
I bought some last year as well and it was horrible. It smelled like musk incense and the moisturizer dried my hair out.
It dries my hair out too…
I wonder if the change of the formula for her products coincides with when she sold her majority ownership.
This is my same wonderment. Like… which came first? I’m likely to believe that the ingredients changed when she sold the majority ownership to the White conglomerate, but I’m interested in what actually happened.
The expansion. They built about 9 stores in less than 5 years. No research no nothing. The product line started suffering when the flagship store in Harlem opened. They couldn’t match the supply/demand. Products would curdle then they realized that hmmmm lose money with the natural or make more with expansion.
Like an employee she is on salary
Well, that explains a lot. Sounds like a BET story to me, given that information.
Yeah, sounds like Bob Johnson to me, except he did twice BET was the first time he took the money ran and that sorry a$$ basketball team that he named after himself. Let me ask you a question if you were a rapper would you rather make a classes album that may get slept on for a while or make hot trash and get paid right now? That seems to be the case with any minority business, Carol’s Daughter is no different. Does/did she have a responsibility to the African American community yes she does/did but it appears she wanted to take the money and run or maybe she was forced to. Who am I to tell her how to run her company. Again would rather make Illmatic or Turn my swag on?
THAT’S WHERE THE NAME BOBCATS CAME FROM?!?!
I’m slow….
As you were
Yeah Bobcats came from Bob Johnson.
WAYMENT WHAT?!
*rides on the “More You Know” shooting star*
Yeah he was/is that arrogant that he named the team he owned after himself.
I’m super-duper late and not to give Bob Johnson a pass but he also tried to spin it to kind of tie-in with the Panthers. I don’t have an actual article to substantiate that but I remember reading/hearing that when the team was first established here.
On one hand, I feel like you have a responsibility to your core consumer base. You presented a product/service and people bought into that product/service based on your promises. Then, your success encourages you to appeal to a wider audience, so you change things about your product/service. Sounds like a good ole case of bait and switch to me. I’m all for staying ahead of the curve and being progressive, but if you’re selling me an ALL NATURAL product and then all of a sudden, you hit me with the okie doke, thats not fair. Reminds me of politicians who run on a platform and then get in office, and get amnesia.
On the other hand, it reminds me of I am/Sasha Fierce. I was disappointed in the album as a whole because it crossed over (which we learned up thread is nothing but a double cross) heavily into the pop realm. I’m R&B, Hip HOP, Neo Soul to the heart. I felt abandoned when I couldn’t listen to that album like I wanted to. However, I understand that in order for Beyonce to be great, that involves catering to the people who actually buy albums (I buy all of my music from iTunes, I don’t support bootlegging), and for that I can’t be mad. When I first got down with B she was one thing, now she is something else. But hey, like Ye said, “50 told me go head and switch the style up and if they hate, then let em hate, and watch the money pile up”.
*down thread
Sorry for the typos but I meant classic album.
wow…that doesn’t explain the rest of natural hair/black hair products though
OH LAWD! Really?? I had no idea – SAD!!!
Wow.
Though, I don’t know if I’m surprised. Ownership really doesn’t seem to be a priority, not when you can make more money by selling and doing the least.
Isn’t that kind of the way things are done nowadays in business? You have an idea or create some type of product or service. You’re too small to really reach a mass audience, but you do well for a start-up. Then along comes some established conglomerate [i.e. Microsoft, Google] who offers you mega-bucks to sell out and they take you over or at least the majority of it.
I’ve seen/heard this so many times I sort of thought it was just par for the course these days.
Me too; great businesses are sold all the time. (Isn’t that a common goal of creating businesses- to sell them)Now she can sit back and get paid and still have some say in the company with probably less work.
And less responsibility.
I feel like she should feel some sort of way about it that she sold her mother’s name to some company that’s changed her work. That would make me feel some kind of way about my legacy and what I represent/stand for if I can sell a part of me and keep on breezing by.
In my mind, she sells it. Gets paid, gets royalties, and has space and opportunity to get into other ventures like possibly mentoring other black business women. Change is inevitable no matter how we feel about it. She might as well change on her own terms (I’m assuming that’s what she did anyway.)
I agree, the whole point of owning a business is to be successful and make money, it seems to me she did both.
Only if that were true WIP. That is not the case tho, last I heard. She is the face but calling the shots, unlikely
this was my comment. thank you and goodnight.
i say she shouldn’t have sold out. i used to love it waybackwhen before they started adding all kinds of chemicals and such. more power to her, but… sadly this seems to be the path all black-owned companies take.
it ain’t about black it’s about green….
capitalism at it’s finest…..smh
WOW! Now look what you dun went and did. I gotta go edit my article!
That’s not surprising because I have been a little skeptical of the direction the company has been taking over the past year. Some of the things they were doing didn’t make sense to me and it was as if they were trying to cross-over into the mainstream market. Now it makes sense. It’s a damn shame that we choose to sell out “our” great businesses to white folks.
Ex-employee co-signing. Carol’s Daughter has gone through some major changes since its inception. The ingredients have changed drastically in addition to company representation. It is the current CEO’s, Steve Stoute, vision to use females of the “light-skinneded” persuasion. When I met Lisa Price for the first time I was very humbled; however, it was more than obvious that she no longer ran the show. Such a sad reality.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Stoute
I wonder if she can now start up another similar venture since she knows her original products were so well received.
I met Lisa a little over five years ago, when all of this began. She is the same nice person that she was back then. I’m just sad that this is what happened to the company. And I am not talking about the ad. I’m talking about as a whole.
I am also an ex-employee on the retail side and the company has definitely lost their way. The real person in charge (not Lisa) wants the “polyethnic” look which means that browner sisters need not apply. But the other side is, I’m glad that he picked Black women at all. This goes down to the women he hires in the office and who he beds. The revamped hair milk was just the beginning. And like the poster before me, I am not surprised AT ALL.
*welcome* *VSB Glitter*
Liz!! I’m dumb late, but I DEFINITELY feel a way! I got NO glitter!!!! ::sadness::
LOL! Sorry! *VSB GLITTER*
WOW, I did not know that–THANKS!! Done buying her stuff.
If we as a people won’t hold them accountable, why should they pretend to care about being anything else other than another company (black, white or otherwise) that’s lookin to get a cut of that 2 billion dollar a year black hair care market?
So true. If we are not speaking with our dollars then what is the point?
When in Roman do like the Romans or is it do like the White peoples??
I think Black responsibility does exist. We do so much complaining then when it comes to running the show ourselves we still drop the ball. Maybe they were going for diversity with hairstyles? I can see that.
I’m sure they had tons of people to choose from. I’m sure my girl Bre from Top Model would have been down or some other Kelly Rowlands…
“I’m sure they had tons of people to choose from. I’m sure my girl Bre from Top Model would have been down or some other Kelly Rowlands…”
In a perfect world I probably would wife Bre Scullark or Yaya DeCosta. Kelly really is the best looking out of the whole Destiny Child’s bunch.
I was thinking that Yaya would be perfect in the ad, what happened to her after top model?
Out of the original DC, I always thought Latoya was the prettiest, which was why she got kicked out, imo.
YaYa does some acting I have seen her on television shows most recently that ABC show Body of Proof but she would have been perfect because she is actually still on the scene I would say more than Cassie who is known for being Diddy’s side piece. Selita Ebanks can boast of being a successful model at some point but she finds herself on more gossip blogs of late and I don’t have a problem with Solange because I think she does rep what Carol’s Daughter stands for.
Yaya still does a lot. She had a few commercials here and there but she is definitely still modeling. I see her a lot on essence.com.
shes actually been getting decent work. not only does she model but she was in “The Kids are alright” which was a pretty well received movie. and she was in Tron very briefly. she’ll be in more stuff i hope. she seems to make good choices.
Letoya for the win. Damn she was/(is?) fine
Kelly really is the best looking out of the whole Destiny Child’s bunch.
Her first nose was, anyway
“Her first nose was, anyway”
LMAO!!! Shade.
HA!
lmao. I thought Beyonce was most attractive in accordance with society’s ‘standards’ but Kelly’s definitely beautiful and a good rep for the mocha sisters out here.
I thought Octavia aka the 5th Beatle was the best looking of the original 4.
I agree with you,I think the responsibility does exist, but I think it’s entirely self-defined. If we went out of our way to do what “other” black people thought was best we’d spend a lot of time and money making an ad that black people will STILL end up hating.
yes. sometimes there is just no winning. and we should consider the limitations we put on black producers of anything (whether they be business owners, artist, etc.) by demanding everything they do be socially responsible or pro-black. individually people should have the freedom to pursue their own goals without having to be limited. its her business, right? now I’m aware this is America and race issues are what they are. the fact that every black person has to answer to how are they or aren’t they contributing to the black community is a sad reality. but I personally would hope that in the future (and by future i mean so far away the world might end first) where black people are allowed to pursue their endeavors individually. now in regards to this specific campaign, yes this is very one sided and just beige all over. so all the comments above and below that slightly reference how light skinned is marketability so black women aren’t actually being represented, i agree that that’s sad and there are plenty of beautiful dark and brown skinned woman who could have done it.
and finally a question: is carol’s daughter supposed to be for “women of color” or specifically aimed at “black women”?
CD was on ANTM…they had a competition for the latest ad campaign (I think this was when JayZ just bought into the company) and a white girl won. A.white.gul. I was like…really? o_0??
OK Lisa, you better be happy your hair milk is thebomb…but then again I stopped buying that ish a long time ago….
Meh
KMN
I KNOW!
It is possible that they have been trying to expand their market. Maybe we should just let them have it and be done with it.
Lol @ “some other Kelly Rowlands”
Selita Ebanks said they were chosen because they all have different hair textures. Sounds like garbage to me but hey, what do I know?
I think one of the reason they used lighter skinned women, and this is something I notice with a lot of black products marketing at natural hair, is that those women often have looser coils. These three might all have different hair textures, but if you’re trying to convince consumers that it’s going to give them those bouncy, defined (“mixed chick”) kind of look, it’s easier to star with women who already have that going for them.
That may be… However, hair texture on dark skinned women range from bone-straight to ultra kinky just like their lighter counterparts. So, I believe this could have been achieved with an array of skin tones.
no disagreement here. I’d like to see more of a range (of tone and textures modeling hair products –especially textures, so I have a decent idea of what a product can do for my hair.
Bre does Garnier Fructis… and I smile everytime I see it…
She did good…
I actually like Garnier Fructis. And Herbal Essences. Strangely, these are marketed toward a white audience, but more and more black women w/ natural hair are flocking to the stuff, including myself. Works wonders for $4.
I have some girlfriends who use those products. That is interesting. The White companies at least try.
garnier fructis is the TRUTH
After those commercials, I even wash my hair Garnier. No Motions for me!
I already blogged about how this isn’t a “light skin vs dark skin” issue for me, so I won’t get into it here.
Does Carol’s Daughter owe black women anything? No, and we won’t lose out if we don’t get it.
But we don’t owe her anything either. See how far Ms.Price gets without us, though.
@pbg
i read your blog and i totally agree!! you made some great points with the pictures
SN: why was i strangely attracted to your non-traditional woman?!?! oh lord
I loved your blog post on the issue. However, although Lisa Price don’t owe my taxes, I think on a level of social responsibility, she should be all “Lemme pay homage to at least one brown sis.” IDK. I’m not offended by it though. I’m just SMH.
Maybe the need for more money took her social responsibility out back and whooped its butt. So right now it may be in the hospital recovering and we’ll see it in a bit.
I’m not offended by the ad either. I just think we may have been a little sensitive about it. When Mary J was featured, we didn’t see the mixed sistaz coming out and refusing to purchase the product. You know.
Like I said in my article. I think they’re just trying to expand their market and there is NOTHING wrong with that. Nothing at all.
I didn’t notice the lack of brown skinned women in the pic until this post. Actually, I don’t think I ever notice until someone points it out. My own family is so diverse, I look at pic and just see black people. However, I’ve recently wondered if this is because of my diverse fam or because I’m so used to seeing lighter women in ads. If there’s a darker woman in an ad, I notice it right off… (In a good way, I’m a tasty chocolate myself).
#le’sigh I use Carol’s Daughter’s Products and I love them. I kind of see where you are coming from but is it really THAT serious!? Sheesh, sometimes we find fault with EVERYTHING. I probably wouldn’t even have noticed their complexions until reading this post. We (read: black people) tend to be overly sensitive sometimes. Also I think it’s subjective. I don’t even consider these women to be THAT light skinned. I just wish we didn’t always tear eachother down, let’s look to the positive. At least she didn’t sell to paul mitchell or vidal sassoon or some ish a la BET, FUBU and damn near errthang else made for US. #LetHerBeGreat!
DAmn…
real talk, the light skin dark skin thing only comes into play because the press push behind this campaign was presented as “diversity” and of all the 80 shades that black people come in….these broads came in roughly at the same light shade of negro. like just call them pretty ladies and be done. but dont sit here and cry diversity when its not really beauty that is diverse in hair type, shape, size, skin color etc.
we aint screamin about dark & lovely hair model skin color because they’re not trying to push a diversity agenda but have all the same-looking chicks.
unfortunately its always a light skinned verses dark skinned thing.. its no an intentional thing but its always there.. how many dark skinned females are represented in advertisement?? Just look through ads in our own magazines..
I can see your point, the “diversity” label probably isn’t the best description of the photo (although I didn’t read the article so I’m not sure of what context they were using the word). I just get irritated with the light skin/ dark skin debate. Just seems sometimes that Willie Lynch is out here #winning
Okay no I clicked on the photo and the caption says “…Polyethnic diversity is a thing of beauty…” Polyethnic means people with many ethnicities in their background. Ethnicity and race are two VERY different things. These women are VERY diverse in their ethnicities. Again I think we are quick to jump to conclusions before we have all of the information.
But are there not women of a darker hue that are polyethnic? I think they lacked true ambition to push the point..if you are going to tout diversity…do that. I said it downthread but if you don’t know that these ladies have different ethnic backgrounds the visual point of your ad is moot
i think its okay if we can’t tell their percentage of negro blood….what annoys me is what does this have to do with the price of tea in china? so solange is part french creole….how does this help them sell their product to me? im not french creole…and i cant imagine the french creole market is so bangin that this is necessary to point out. nooot to mention, most mixed women have their own concoctions of drugstore products, we aint checkin for carols daughter like that.
it kinda sounds like they found some third rate black celebs, who also sort of wear their natural hair most of the time (let’s be honest, black hollywood be on that yaki)…and then wondered aloud: what do these women all have in common? oh theyre mixed. so lets make this a diversity play….not really understanding the impliv=cations here.
“what annoys me is what does this have to do with the price of tea in china? so solange is part french creole….how does this help them sell their product to me? im not french creole”
I think the point is is that this product is for EVERYONE. Black, Latina, Asian (blasian), the mullats, all of that. I think she was trying to say that people of all ethnicities have kinky hair so buy my sht and u’ll be glorius.
BUT I do think she should have focused on the hair
Exactly!
I don’t even think there would have been such a hullabaloo if they hadn’t used the word DIVERSITY.
I think the point is is that this product is for EVERYONE. Black, Latina, Asian (blasian), the mullats, all of that. I think she was trying to say that people of all ethnicities have kinky hair so buy my sht and u’ll be glorius.
but its not for everyone. do you see any asians here? and latinas? i dont. all these woman look the same. who cares what the blood count is. this is a company that sells aesthetic products. and lets just be honest: this was a spin, this explanation was cooked up after the women were picked. dont believe what they corporate heads say.
“we picked these three woman that look exactly alike because they are all so different which you wouldn’t know unless you ask them about the stuff you wouldn’t know when you look at them because we sell products that have nothing to do with the stuff you wouldn’t know when you look at someone.”
LOL @ you last paragraph. My thoughts exactly!
COSIGN!
that last paragraph, is the realest.
Creole is so much more a culture than an ethnicity…. But that’s a whole other issue. That being said, solange’s hair care needs seem quite different from the creole sisters from back home, just sayin
Agreed and agreed.
iCant…
@dc1913 I’m sorry, either Carol’s Daughter is using polyethnic incorrectly in the exact way that you are accusing people complaining about the photos of doing or you are (which would be strange since you made the distinction). I’m pretty sure that there are a number of polyethnic women out there with darker shades of skin (real African-Americans, Afro-Caribbeans). Hell it’s probably easier to find them than the lighter ones. So unless you or the company is making an inherent link between multiracial and polyethnic, I don’t see why people asking about the lack of diversity in skin tones is invalid.
SN: No one thought they were assuming a diversity along racial lines, just a diversity of shade within one race. You linking skin tone to race is, again, doing what you are accusing everyone else of doing, dividing us into different camps. Liz is both polyethnic and on the lighter side, if her motivation was this “divided camp mentality” that you’re saying it is, she wouldn’t be on this side of the battle. You’re the only one making it about that.
Pretending that racial bias doesn’t exist and not asking the hard questions is not the road to racial tolerance that you think it is.
“Pretending that racial bias doesn’t exist and not asking the hard questions is not the road to racial tolerance that you think it is.”
So true.
I would also add that pretty much ALL African Americans and most Afro-Caribbeans are multiracial if we’re just talking about bloodlines. Various studies into genealogy show that most black Americans have on average about 10-20% of their DNA coming from Europe.
I’m not sure how many of you watched African American lives, but when Skip Gates did his genealogy test, his mitochondrial DNA lead to Ireland and it’s not uncommon.
Thanks e-boo! (did you sign them papers??)
Yeah what he said.
I had my attorney make some changes, but yeah, your copy is in the mail.
Hmm. Okay I’ll keep an eye out. A side eye! o_O
Don’t focus on the minor changes e-heart, in fact don’t even read them. Let’s just enjoy the e-lation of being in a new rElationship.
You’re right. what was I thinking???
yall are nuts. Meech, you crack me up
*updates spreadsheet*
Mazel tov, you two!!!
e-????????? is in the air… congrats to:
Mr. Medium Meech & Ms. Liz B on their brand new “rElationship”
Salud!!!!!!
LOL! I don’t even know what this means.
Congratulations, y’all.
“May your first e-child be a masculine e-child…”
whats this spreadsheet you speak of?
the list of e-boo-ships.
@Cheeks,
Oh. I didn’t even know this existed. You may have to forward that to me. For safe record keeping, you know…
@Liz,
It’s invisible. Sort of like a cloak.
“You linking skin tone to race is, again, doing what you are accusing everyone else of doing, dividing us into different camps”
Actually race and skin tone ARE one in the same. I was saying that she based the add off of ETHNICITY not RACE. Like I said I understand what everyone else is saying (although you seemed to be a tad bit heated round the collar in your response) but I just think that sometimes we jump to the bad too fast. That’s all i’m saying. Yea racial bias definitely does exist but I don’t think we always have to go searching for it.
I am by no means living in some “post-racial (whatever the hell that means)” fantasy world. In other words I think people should just chill out sometimes, if we cry out for every single thing, after a while our voices won’t be heard for the things that REALLY matter. We gotta save energy to go against Palin/Trump 2012 ; )
their use of diversity was along the lines of, “look, america is diverse with its racial makeup, and so are these collection of half-black beauties.” then they proceeded to break down the blood quantum of each lady. it was ridiculous. the obvious diversity play should have been black women come in all hair types, here we wanna cater to them.
Agreed…
Making it about hair would have made a lot more sense…
“the obvious diversity play should have been black women come in all hair types, here we wanna cater to them.”
Granted, I’m nowhere near any of these women when they get caught in a rainstorm, but I looked at that picture and saw three different types of hair. To me Solange was the natural, wake up and go, I am soul fro wearing chick, Cassie was the good hair that may or may not be a texturizer/keratin treatment/dominican blowout and Selita was the just for me/dark and lovely/ motions chick.
For a hair company, that is diversity.
Or IMO that is diversity for a hair company which caters to African-American women.
I understand where the skin issue comes in, I really do. But honestly sometimes I. Get. Tired of being in that damn protest march every time something like this comes out in the mainstream. Carols Daughter is a company that is CLEARLY for us by us. I wonder if we( the indignant black community) would rather they had everyone from Grace Jones to Paula Patton in the ad but had products that made our hair come out and didn’t support our community instead of the present situation?
Co-sign!
i love this flawfree comment and everything it aspires to be.
Liz….honest to white Jesus question: when did Solange get to be “mixed?” Her momma black and her daddy black. Now Beyonce’s daddy? Iowno about that one lmao but Solange is black…just light skint
(I’m sorry I woke up at three and i aint functionin properly…I might be bad for the rest of the day lmao)
KMN
You know something I don’t know. Solange and Beyonce don’t have the same daddy?
It’s been rumored that Solange and Kelly are sisters but Solange and Bey are sisters…not all of them…
Solange/Kelly= Matthew’s
Solange/Bey=Mama Tina
Bey= some otha nicca that Mama Tina was fooling around with on the side while Matthew was fooling around with Kelly’s momma (who happened to be their maid at the time o_0 or some ish like that)
Look at Solange., Kelly (pre nose job) and Bey…Solange and Kelly yep yall look like sisters…Bey and Solange and Kelly mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm not so much lmao
KMN
complete bullocks. lmao.
The rumour mill runs rampant…lmao
Imma mess
KMN
Solange used to look like Daddy Knowles before she had her little tweeks done to her face, Bey always resembled Tina .. So that just may be the case
But I do recall hearing a rumor yearssss ago about kelly being a sibling, but they downplayed that ish to say ” Well we call her our sister because she spent so much time at our house”
LOL GIRL! The whole breakdown of the races was ridiculous to me. EVERYBODY KNOWS Black people are super mixed in this country due to the history of slavery, so with solange I gave the sideeye. sideyee to the whole campaign for trying to divvy up blood quantums in the press release. as if their being mixed makes them different from the 100% Black sistas in this country. those 100% sistas are ALSO “mixed” to some degree. Those are three Black women up there, as far as im concerned.
Exactly.
Agreed.
Especially since Advertising 101 says consumers should get the gist of your marketing at first glance. If they have to think about it, you may have just lost that consumer.
Random tidbit: I’ve begun to listen to YouTube while at work and noticed the Vevo commercials allow you to skip them after 3 seconds. Why? Because most advertisements get to the point quickly and clearly.
Diversity: 1. the state or fact of being diverse; difference; unlikeness.
2. variety; multiformity.
3. a point of difference.
aside from knowing the “facts” of these young women, there is no point of obvious difference in their looks. light vs dark is played, agreed. however if your strategy is to get your target audience to believe you are diverse then diverse women diverse skin colors diverse hair textures needs to advertised. Its not a matter of an age old attempt to rally a hate group/colorism. its the reality of the business. If you want me to buy i need to be able to identify with at least one of the women on the ad. point. blank. period.
…and there it is.
Cosign
cosign…
I really didn’t think that deeply about it either until I read about it on the internet.
It really doesn’t affect me that much. I don’t use her product anyway. The portions are too small. I got a lot of hair and I tried to use her shampoo and ended up using the whole bottle in one wash. I’ll pass…
But seriously… I really don’t care that much. She couldn’t have gotten darker skinned models… but she didn’t. No biggie for me…
I really didn’t think that deeply about it either until I read about it on the internet.
Yea, me neither. But then again I don’t really use her products so I wasn’t paying that much attention. I guess I can see the hoopla after hearing about the use of the word “diversity”. Maybe they should’ve stressed diversity in hair types.
Co-sign on everything you said
I first saw this Carols’s daughter pic on BV and I didn’t even notice the hues of the girls in the ad. I don’t get why ppl would make a big deal out of this(unless they WANT controversy).
This really shouldn’t be a light skint vs dark skin issue. Sh*t this whole light skint vs dark skin thing shouldn’t be an issue. Ppl stop dissecting others blackness. All it does is further split us apart.
Okay, I came out of lurkerville for this one. . .
I don’t use Carol’s Daughter. . . beyond the hair milk, I just didn’t care for it. I am a kinky-curly girl myself. . .But, I think I have more of a problem with the fact that the main focus of her products has been natural girls up to this point, but now two of the three ladies in the ad have press & curls/perms/weaves. Not, that I have anything against my sisters who go that route, but I’m saying that you ride the horse you came in on, Lisa. . .
Definitely there needs to be some color variation on here too, but the actual hair is what threw me off when I saw the picture.
(hopefully you will take my comments with light-skinnt salt!)
riddle me this: who in the ad has a weave? Im pretty sure that’s cassie’s real hair….and the chick from the kanye video looks like she has a perm. i saw someone else beefing about the weave and I thought it was nonsense.
that’s why I said press&curl/perm/weave, because I didn’t want to make assumptions. I honestly didn’t know. . .And, like I said before, I also make no judgements/beefs on their hair choices.
What another sister likes for her hair, I love for her hair!.
(no glitter for being new?? was it the weave comment??)
LOL! Sorry *VSB Glitter* i forgot it because your comment was so interesting to me lol. i really did think i was missing something about the weave so i had to ask somebody who seemed like they knew! kanye video chick is def a ?? about the hair treatment. i mean maybe carols daughter is good for permed or pressed hair, who knows? i really did think they were for natural hair chicks only and even tho im natural (always have been, so not sure i like to be considered in the natural movement), i prolly dont think her products are for me. esp now.
hahaha, no worries Liz!!!
I have always associated her products with natural ladies too (and that’s of all races),and I would guess that most of her market feels the same way. . .but, I guess she wants to expand her market?? I mean, she is on QVC now. . . .
Actually, Cassie has a weave in that ad photo. She barely ever showed it after doing so but she had her hair cut late last year (she also had bleached it blonde around the same time). Selita is sporting a weave too… just to mention. *shrug*
hmm. why would you put a weave in half your hair tho? then again id ont follow cassie close enough to know what she did with it after she shaved half her head a few yrs ago.
im just defensive about the weave call out (nttawwt) cuz i hated being called out for wearing a weave when i know nothing about weaves lol. not only does it feel like folks dont realize mixed chicks can have long hair of their own–but so can full black women (ie folks lost their minds when they learned oprah rocks her own hair, not a weave). in this case tho, it is retarded for them to be wearing pieces in a hair care product ad.
Oh believe me, I know. As a black woman with waist length hair, I get questioned if it’s mine and if it is mine, am I “mix or something”. *sigh*
I don’t know why Cass sports a weave but I follow her faithfully (the girls fashion game is no joke. Plus, I think she’s gorg) and enough to know… it’s a weave. I think it has a lot to do w/ ppl not really feeling the shorter hair (mainly Puff, probably) but I remember when Amerie (I refuse to add an extra ‘i’) cut her hair chin length, fans didn’t care for it and soon after, she began sporting extensions.
I have friends who insist that the hair Chris Rock ran his bony fingers through was a special Oprah weave that was bonded in strand by strand! Ha!
But on this note, I used Carol’s Daughter when I first went all-natural, and now, there are so many choices, including mixing your own stuff, that it doesn’t matter any more. I do agree this is not really representing the wide variety that exists in Black women, from French Vanilla hue to dark chocolate tones.
I have friends who insist that the hair Chris Rock ran his bony fingers through was a special Oprah weave that was bonded in strand by strand! Ha!
LMAO!!
why would you shave half you head to begin with?
mysteries of life…
=)
LOL!! I was watching Basketball Wives and one of the women has this hairstyle- except she had let it grow out too much on the side and tried to gel it down. Hot mess…
If you gonna rock that you have to keep it up.
Because you are only half crazy…
“Because you are only half crazy…”
LOL! great.
crazy artistic types….
yeah..i did them too….but half bald headed womens ain’t the kang type
I’m good at spotting weaves and the chick in kanye’s vid def has one, maybe to add fullness.
Selita. Her hair is SUPER short. If it comes past her ears, it’s a sew in. And, because she still models
works the club scene, it’s actually better for her natural hair to protect it with sew ins from all the stylingI love her hair in this ad though; it’s the only good point for me
LOL ohh ok. Yeah. Odd strategy they have going here.
Heeeeyyyy! Kinky-Curly girlies in da house! Which reminds… I need to go to Target tmrw. Someone remind me later, k? Thnx
I loooooove Kinky-Curly!! So glad that they are at Target now!!
I haven’t tried Kinky-Curly, but I heard good things about it.
I’m partial to the Shea Moisture line…
Kinky-Curly
@ Selita Ebanks @ Thereluctantsocialite
I loooooooooooove Kinky-Curly too! I have been using it for quite a while now and I think it’s the best product that I’ve found for my natural hair. I use it when I do the two strain twist and it leaves my hair beautiful, bouncy and shiny!
And…….I found that it makes my hair grow really fast. I was grateful to find Kinky-Curly after using Miss Jessie’s products, which was too expensive and made my hair dull. Gave it all the he$$ away! Found Kinky-Curly and never looked back!
Kinky Curly ain’t cheap, but it’s worth the price.
Kink curly might have helped you retain length but hair growth is genetics which you can’t change.
Well you can change it… but I’ve always heard its what you put in your body not on top of your head.
True. It’s the thing my exes always miss the most.
LMAO!!
Ms. Jessie’s is expensive… but it smells soooooooooo good…
I love Shea Moisture products too! Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat Conditioner is the truth.
Fellow kinky-curly lady as well!
Shea Moisture line– is.the.ish.
KK products=NOT for me.
I have some CD products at home, but I didn’t like the hair milk. Guess I’m in the minority on that one. I DO love her hair butter.
In regards to the cover, I’m a little bummed that a darker-skinned woman wasn’t placed, but not too upset to make a fuss about it. It would’ve been cool not only to see different shades of color, but different TYPES of coif. No every woman who uses her products have EXACT hair like Selita, OR Solange. JMO. I can’t Identify with neither–not.even.close. *shrugs*
Co-Sign!
i use ecostyler gel and pantene breakage defense condidtioner.. hair one shampoo (sulfate free) which is a shampoo/conditioner in one, which is so good, that you really dont need other conditioner afterwards.
my sister used to use CD products, until they were no longer natural and sulfate free.
@LA2Tally
???????WELCOME???????
please stay and continue to post…
late but still great!!!!
Thanks Yoles!!!
**feeling the love**
*Not, that I have anything against my sisters who go that route, but I’m saying that you ride the horse you came in on, Lisa. . .*
I agree with you that she shouldn’t forget about her core customers, but for any business to grow it has to expand, find new markets, and new streams of revenue. That’s all this looks like to me (but I am a dude, and I don’t use her products so i could be wrong)
When I saw the announcement for the new spokeswoman, iDied laughing. Can you imagine Cassie putting Coco butter anything on her? Diddy would surely have blew her back to the curb already. Truth be told, I don’t think Lisa Price has much say anymore,with all those investors, it was only a matter of time before the models got lighter and whiter. Business is business, and I suppose peddling the wares on QVC/HSN means you need more related models to appeal to the masses. Personally I could care less who touts the product, I already know these chicks aren’t likely to use it anyone, besides Solange. By the way, didn’t somebody, anybody, want to give her some hair milk before this shoot? I mean dang…..this fro looks dehydrated.
At first glance I thought “Oh Spike Lee’s sister is getting back on the scene…oh…that’s Solange? My bad….”
I always thought Solange was more of a Orlando Jones doppelganger. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Yi3tA5yIlkc/S9rqQbemIwI/AAAAAAAAEis/-o5foBx487A/s1600/solange+7up+orlando+jones.JPG
@tgtaggie
that pic was worth a thousand laughs!!!!
LMAOO she does kinda look like orlando jones!
Omg! She do look like him tho.
Here lies Luvvie… slain by a picture. Too young to go.
Who’s gon give the eulogy at my funegro? WHO, I ASK???
Goodnight (……zzzzzz)
LMFAO. *as she was his stunt double in Drumline*
Y’all are KILLING me tonight w/the jokes!
LMAO
another blog i read refers to her as “Basement Baby.” this styling of this here photo is not helping roll that back anytime soon.
Lmao @ hair milk. that mess is awful, BTW. honey hair mimosa all the way.
I too think Lisa Price must not have any majority control over anything anymore. Which is a shame since this product is supposed to be near and dear to her heart.
good point about the investors..
Truth be told, I don’t think Lisa Price has much say anymore,with all those investors
This is what I’ve been thinking for the longest.
Hmmm…I thought that Carol’s Daughter was geared towards women of color who wanted to get some organization and moisture to their natural hair. This was back in 2004 though so they obviously have gone into the “Dark ‘n Lovely” and Jam styling gel territory.
Since I’m a man, I maybe cannot have a 100% valid perspective but if a company markets itself to a specific demographic, then they only want to portray images that have the best chance of drawing the attention of the customers and their dollars. Is Cassie a good look, not in my mind but as long as people who desire those hair care products pay attention long enough to admire that image and have a drop of a thought that buying that product will make them as desirable, then the good and bad attention was all worth it.
I know that if they showed some regular style dude on the Sportin’ Waves texturizer kit box (back in ’90), I wouldn’t have asked my mom to get it for me. I wanted to look like the Lando Calrissian looking dude. That was my skewed priority at the time. Looking back, I’m not salty at the company who marketed that image to me, I just got over it and moved on.
“I know that if they showed some regular style dude on the Sportin’ Waves texturizer kit box (back in ’90), I wouldn’t have asked my mom to get it for me.”
LOL! I think all these women have natural hair. I’m guessing they were trying to show different kinds of natural hair.
The main thing that I find laughable about this campaign (outside of the fact that they all look really uncomfortable in that photo) is that it is based on the premise of “diversity” and they “prove” this by listing the ethnic makeup of each woman in the article. How about proving it by selecting a more diverse group of women? No shade to Solange, Cassie or Selita – more power to them. I would just think that Carol’s Daughter would have a better understanding of true diversity. Then again, they probably also have a better understanding of what works in business – considering Lisa Price started out making the products at home and now has major investors. Maybe they thought that by selecting these women, they would have a better chance of having the ad placed in more mainstream publications and not just Essence or Ebony. Sad state of affairs, but what’s new?
i thought the same thing!!! “Maybe they thought that by selecting these women, they would have a better chance of having the ad placed in more mainstream publications and not just Essence or Ebony.”
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please stay and continue to post…
If your going to champion yourself as being diverse then I’d think you would try your best to ,you know, actually be diverse in the selection of Black Women to represent your products. Whether all the models are light-bright-damn-near-white, brown paper bag or burple choosing to only show a small segment of the color spectrum of black women is pretty “off”.
But then again when I think about it’d probably be easier to showcase light-skinned to Sanaa Lathan complexioned women but trying to get someone who is dark-skinned? I can’t really think of several dark-skinned women who are bankable enough to be on magazine covers. India Arie?
As long as said dark-skinned women looks good, she’s bankable. Period. They aren’t marketing to mainstream (i.e. non-black) America with this ad. They are marketing mainly to Blacks and Latinos. Contrary to what may be portrayed, we do appreciate a dark skinned, good looking woman any day of the week…..
Hell, I’d take Alec Wek with a fro wig over Solange any day. Especially with that stink face she has on.
Tika Sumpter would be another gorgeous option, and wouldn’t look as rough as Solange in this ad.
Tika Sumpter is gorgeous…
If this were a second-tier product (popularity wise) then I’d agree with you but I seems as if with this particular marketing campaign they sought to have more recognizable models on the front. Maybe if this were something like a newsletter or e-mail blast I could see them sticking a random beautiful lesser-known dark skinned woman on there but for, what seems like, a big announcement and stepping stone for the company they made sure the got more popular models.
But I definitely agree that they could’ve done a WHOLE LOT better than these busted photos, hell I think one of those photos that comes in the picture frame from Wal-Mart would have looked better.
Alek Wek is big time and she’s bald-headed.
True true, forgot about her
Eyrkah Badu,Viola Davis, Nia Long,Crisette Michelle,Mary J Blige,Elise Neal,YaYa Decosta,Regina King, Meagan Good, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Marie Jones,Ledesi,Lauryn Hill,Keisha Knight- Pullium, Niomi Campbell…. There are options…
Naomi has no hair..she cant advertise hair, Jennifer Hudson love her..but never seen her real hair..Chrisette is not growing nay hair…may be Nia long
Doesn’t MJB have money in CD? I remember seeing her in ads right next to Jada…I’m surprised they didn’t have her on there. But i guess shes one of those controlling entities right up there with Will, Jada, and Jay-Z(/Bey?)
KMN
They definitely should’ve called Rudy Huxtable before they called Cassie.
Agreed. KKP would have been believable and she can’t be charging that much.
lmao. i’m sure she’d do it for free. smh.
LOL @ her not charging that much. I love her. IDk why though, I’m not thrilled with her acting.
Yep, and she’s natural as well.
It’s all about having a good agent and management team