The Clicks Group apologised after receiving numerous complaints from upset customers over an advert that classified natural black hair as "dry, damaged, frizzy and dull".
The backlash started on Friday when a Clicks advert which classified different types of hair started trending.
In the advert were pictures of four women: two black and two white.
The advert classified the two black women's hair as, "dry and damaged" and "frizzy and dull", while the two white women's hair were classified as "fine and flat hair" as well as "normal hair".
Miss Universe Zozi Tunzi and other Twitter users felt it was disrespectful to the black community.
Clicks had since taken down the images and made a public apology.
"We sincerely apologise for offending our customers and letting you down," Clicks' chief commercial officer Rachel Wrigglesworth said.
"We acted swiftly and immediately removed the offending images which were provided by a supplier as part of their marketing campaign.
Johannesburg's Rekky Signature Hair & Nail Salon owner Rekiat Okpe is trying to make up for a lost time after closing her salon for almost three months.
Shireen Abrahams, owner of Syzygy Hair Design in Cape Town, was finally able to open the doors to her hair salon on Saturday.
A Johannesburg-based hairdresser has resorted to doing his clients' hair on the black market, after losing his income during the Covid-19 lockdown that began on 26 March.
Not only is this disrespectful to black lives, it is also evidence of an absence of representation and diversity within the organization. And we are talking about a South Africa with a population of about 80% black people (stand to be corrected). No ways💔 @Clicks_SA https://t.co/HWtfH40HCY— Zozibini Tunzi (@zozitunzi) September 4, 2020
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 in place stricter measures on our website.— Clicks (@Clicks_SA) September 4, 2020
Racism is violence! This Clicks add is a violation of human right and dignity of black people. It is the reason white supremacy persists to this day. It is the basis of the racial humiliation black people experience at the hands/eyes of whites. #RacismIsViolence pic.twitter.com/jojZvJvuLh— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) September 4, 2020
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Mauritians have come together to make floating booms of human hair and leaves. This as they try to mop up oil leaking from a grounded Japanese ship into their pristine Indian Ocean beaches.
Johannesburg's Rekky Signature Hair & Nail Salon owner Rekiat Okpe is trying to make up for a lost time after closing her salon for almost three months. "It has been a big relief, we have been home for about 85 days, no income, no salary, and mo...
"As a brand, we recognise that we have a responsibility to use whatever influence we have to remove implicit and explicit prejudice from society, the workplace and our advertising."
Wrigglesworth said they recognised that they had a role to play in how they represented a diverse customer base in their own and supplier advertising and that they sincerely apologised for failing their customers.
Source: www.news24.com
