Miss Universe 2019 Zozibini Tunzi took to her social media to call out an advertisement that showcased a black women’s natural hair as ‘dull’, ‘damaged’, ‘frizzy’, and ‘dry’ whereas a white women’s hair was shown as ‘normal’ and ‘fine’. While the entire world is trying to normalise the racism in the world especially after George Floyd’s murder, the advertisement by a renowned brand is doing anything good to the society.
Zozibini who is a fervent natural hair advocate, was one of the first to react, tweeting her disappointment at the incident and posted, “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.”
The website that had posted the pictures of the two removed the images from their end after the social media outrage but by the time they removed it, the social media was full of the screenshots of the images and celebrities who have been fighting for black lives also commented on how disrespectful that post was to black people.
“I’m so tired of brands using our Blackness as a publicity stunt or advertising tool. I’m so tired of educating corporates about Black hair, Black skin, Black lives. This is blatant racism,” a Twitter user said. Likewise, many users have also called out on brands that have been trying to demean them with their products.
The website that had posted the images were quick to response and apologise to the people they offended. They posted, “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. We have made a mistake and sincerely apologise for letting you down. We recognise we have a role to play in creating a more diverse and inclusive South Africa, starting with our website content. We know we need to do better, and commit to ensuring our content better reflects this value,” it said.
Zozibini Tunzi who wore her natural short hair during her performance at Miss Universe 2019 stage and was crowned as the queen at the end of the event finale has always urged everyone to be their natural self where ever they are. Zozi has been unapologetically flaunting her beauty as it is and urging everyone to talk about the serious need of changing the society’s outdated definitions of beauty. As most of the world is working on dismantling systemic racism, the beauty queen expressed she would like that in the future (post her reign), the address of these problems at a grass root level.