How Sway: ASOS Used a Black Model to Showcase a Range of White Foundations

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How Sway: ASOS Used a Black Model to Showcase a Range of White Foundations

Not the company's best decision...

Published September 11, 2016

Online beauty and fashion retailer ASOS is catching all sorts of criticism for a recent promotional campaign — and rightfully so.

The advertisement in question depicts a Black model promoting a series of foundation by Maybelline that caters towards lighter skin tones.

The company’s decision to use a darker skinned model to show the range of colors has folks outraged, especially because of how difficult it is for women of color to find shades of foundation that works with their skin tone.

One Twitter user pointed out the advertisement saying, “Hey! Black ppl! u don’t need to wear this foundation, but we will use u as a measure of others lightness!”

The tweet has now gone viral, with many speaking up to voice their distaste for the advertisement.

The company decided to respond, addressing the photo and why it wasn’t their best marketing move.

“Thanks for bringing this to our attention,” the company said. “We’re looking into getting this imagery removed ASAP. Apologies for any [offense] caused.”

Take a look at some of the reactions to the campaign in the tweets below.

TSR STAFF : Thembi M. @ThembiTV_ on Instagram & Twitter _____________________ Online fashion and beauty store #ASOS is catching some heat across the Internet for using a black model as a prop for white foundation. _____________________ 'Fit Me' foundation by #Maybelline is mostly available for lighter skin tones, and barely has a range of shades for black people. _____________________ If you're a makeup lover, this specific collections lack of shades isn't news to you, however, #ASOS took it upon themselves to showcase the various ranges of the 'lighter' foundation tones using a black models arm, as a way to see the real difference in the range of colors. _____________________ #Twitter user Sharan Dhaliwal noticed this while browsing the #ASOS website and she was not here for the ad! Amid her frustration, she sarcastically tweeted, "hey! Black ppl! u don't need to wear this foundation, but we will use u as a measure of others lightness!" ..Oop! _____________________ Her tweet has since gone viral and the Twitter nation is a in frenzy! #ASOS definitely knew it was time for damage control and put out an apology tweet stating--Click the link in our bio for ASOS apology, and more tweets of people voicing their frustration with the company!

A photo posted by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) on

Written by KC Orcutt

(Photo: laflor/Getty Images)

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