Relaxer Commercials??

I don't know if maybe I'm late, but over the past couple of days I've been seeing commercials for relaxers...where black women are really swinging their hair about all attitud-y like "My hair is so healthy and no breakage!" specifically one I saw was Organic Root Stimulater company. Has anyone seen these? I'm wondering if they are in response to "Good Hair."

yeah, and i saw the ads for relaxers that now have shea butter...like the shea is gonna equal out the effects of chemical processing...geez

I don't know why, but I take those commercials personal. Like they are trying to prove that they are better than us.

Another thing I find funny is that more and more companies are using natural women in commercials and print ads, especially Target. But when you turn to shows on BET.....here comes the relaxer commercials.

tiashauntee wrote:I don't know why, but I take those commercials personal. Like they are trying to prove that they are better than us.

Another thing I find funny is that more and more companies are using natural women in commercials and print ads, especially Target. But when you turn to shows on BET.....here comes the relaxer commercials.

You know I actually take those personal too. The way the chick in the commercial is snapping her head like she's the shit with her hair...smh And the funny thing is there's the warning (fine print) of the relaxer product but its so small you can barely see it

dajewel wrote:yeah, and i saw the ads for relaxers that now have shea butter...like the shea is gonna equal out the effects of chemical processing...geez

I know right, and I bet its not even listed in the first five of the ingredients!

tiashauntee wrote:I don't know why, but I take those commercials personal. Like they are trying to prove that they are better than us.

Another thing I find funny is that more and more companies are using natural women in commercials and print ads, especially Target. But when you turn to shows on BET.....here comes the relaxer commercials.

I've realized that also. I've seen alot of ads with natural hair. And I always make sure to tell someone near by that she has nice hair.

Hi, ladies!

I just joined the network, but I am actually doing my graduate thesis research on hair care marketing in Essence magazine. I have been natural all of my life, but I wore it pressed regularly up until the beginning of this year. I still straighten my hair sometimes, but I've been embracing my natural much more.

As for my research, I am doing a content analysis of hair product advertisements in Essence magazine across three decades...1980-1989, 1990-1999, and 2000-2009. I believe that I will find that the majority of the ads present images of women with a straight hair texture...and this obviously goes for relaxers but interestingly for other products as well including shampoos, conditioners, styling aids, growth aids, weaves, etc.

Also, I will believe that I will find that all other NON-hair care product advertisements will present their Black women models with straight hair, BUT I will see more images of our natural hair texture in these ads as compared to actual hair product advertisements...such as Target, Pine-Sol, KFC, etc.

Now, I am not demeaning women who desire the straight look because clearly I like to straighten mine to see if it has grown. But, in my research, I would like to understand why advertisements that are targeted toward African American women do not (at least) equally present images in their marketing strategies that represent us in our true natural state. Why do you all think this is the case?

just to continue promote common "knowledge" in the African American community: straight is more beautiful and preferred than the kinky, curly state. this thinking is a relic of the slavery institution in the United States. it would interesting to note who is behind the marketing campaign within said companies: white, black, men, women

I agree with you definitely...The literature that forms the basis of my research is quite rich and states that straight hair is equal to:
- beauty
- sexy
- successful
- confident
- easy to attract a mate

I do attempt to analyze how ads from Black owned companies compare with ads from white owned companies. By far, the worst advetisements out there have to be by Dr. Miracles (white owned company)...his approach follows the stereotype of straight hair = beast to beautie.

I blame mental conditioning. Many AA women (and men) feel like long flowing hair is the only pretty hair. If you think about it our people are the only ones with kinky hair (please correct me if I am wrong). But white, Hispanics, Asians all have long flowing hair, so something must be wrong with us.....not in my opinion. If our hair/race is so bad then why other ethic groups try to get what we have:
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And let's not forget his era:
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hmm, interesting that dr.miracle's is white-owned company. who is the CEO? who are the directors of marketing, strategic relations/PR, etc? black or white?

@ tiashauntee...I agree with you as well. Actually, I have received more compliments about my natural hair from non-blacks than my fellow people. They find it so pretty.

@ dajewel...I referred to the Black Owned Beauty Supply Association for those stats... http://www.bobsaone.org/nonblackmanufacturers.php Dr. Miracles is among the list of Non-Black Manufacturers. You can also see the list of Black Manufacturers via the link in the left column of that webpage.

I read from a non-scholarly source that Dr. Miracles was a white man whose wife was the lady on the packaging of his products. Not too sure how accurate that is though.

I think its one thing for us, as adults to see these commercials because SOME of us can decipher the hidden messages and read between the lines of what they are trying to tell us. Its a WHOLE other thing when our little girls see this and take it for what their reality must be. I think that pisses me off more than anything. While it is not advertisers job to tell our girls that they are beautiful they are practically bombarded with images of what is supposed to be beautiful where ever they go. Anyone remember the Just For Me kiddie perm that had the catchy song to go with it? I remember being psyched to get a relaxer, putting that tape in and singing that song. If my mother knew then what she knows now.

@ AfrikanLatina...Certainly, I think kiddie perms should be banned. Actually, I am very thankful to come from a generation of women who have never experimented with a relaxer (mother and grandmother). I used to want my hair to be straight all the time just like the little girls in the Just For Me ads. The thing is, advertisers reach little girls FIRST through their mothers. I can't believe girls get relaxers before age 10...that sounds unhealthy.

In my Social Issues in Advertising course, I was introduced to a website called SkinDeep.com @ http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php, which looks up each ingredient in beauty products and provides rankings of harmful chemical ingredients. Check it out and take a look at some of the well-known relaxers...and even some of the basic personal care items that we use on our body.
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Also, I just contacted Dr. Miracle's to ask if the company was black owned or white owned. This is the response I received from a customer service rep:

Greetings Crystal,

Thank you for contacting Dr. Miracle's. Dr. Miracle's is a Family owned business. The founder Ollie Johnson is black, and the woman on our relaxer box is the wife of the president of the company. If you have any other concerns please feel free to contact us.

So...the founder is black, but the owner is white...but she didn't tell me that??? She made reference to the woman on the box.

each one, teach three.

I have stayed on skindeep since I was pregnant with our son. I want to know exactly whats going on his body. That site is SUPER INFORMATIVE!

tiashauntee wrote:I don't know why, but I take those commercials personal. Like they are trying to prove that they are better than us.

Another thing I find funny is that more and more companies are using natural women in commercials and print ads, especially Target. But when you turn to shows on BET.....here comes the relaxer commercials.

You aint NEVA LIE! . [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I was just about to comment on Tia's remark about natural-haired women in commercial's and print ads because I have noticed it A LOT lately. As I'm typing this a girl has twists on the AT&T commercial that just came on...

And I don't even watch BET so I don't know what garbage they're puttin on there (no offense to any shareholders of BET lol - even though I get offended anytime I think about the programming on Black Entertainment Television's Programming)... Maybe that's why I haven't seen a Dr. Miracle's commercial in a super long time - they don't play those on HGTV and ABC and the rest lol

So, true...many companies & various brands are using African American women with natural hair textures. I don't watch BET either so I can understand your point about "garbage." The Dr. Miracle ads in Essence magazine are exactly as the television ads...HORRIBLE.

The ethnic hair care market, as it is termed, is interesting. Other brands also stigmatize the concept of straight being beautiful for Black women...even through the brand name...i.e. Soft & Beautiful (relaxer)... Dark and Lovely (you can be dark...as in, you are African American....but you can still be lovely...as in having straight hair) blah...blah...blah. Give me a flat iron...not a chemical.

mscrystal, i saw this today, and thought you could use it in your research:
http://bglhonline.com/2009/11/vintage-natural/

@dajewel, thanks for posting that link for MsCrystal because I have been wanting to visit some "back in the day" styles and attempt to put a modern twist on them or just replicate them. This saves me a lot of Googling, LOL

ur welcome, tia!!!

@ dajewel...thank you so much for that link and for providing tiashauntee, others, and myself with interesting info!!!

I'll probably plug it in my research!