Step to Inclusivity or Marketing Stunt? RANT/OFF TOPIC

FRIDA KAHLO

An effort in being more inclusive or a marketing stunt?

I must admit: I am an avid makeup shopper. When I am stressed, I like to shop and my category of choice is usually makeup. I can go to Ulta beauty and walk through the isles for hours and not get bored. 
 


This week, I took a trip to my closest Ulta beauty and was surprised by what I saw. 
 In one of the main store displays, I saw that the Ulta brand created a Frida Kahlo collection. 
My initial reaction was "cool!" but after thinking about it, I began to wonder if Ulta Beauty was simply doing this to try to look inclusive without really caring about Frida Kahlo and what she represents. In her time, Frida was seen as an icon for Chicanos and will go down in history as one of the most influential women in the world. After coming home, I did some research and found that there were various articles online that mentioned that  Ulta received backlash over this collection. One of the main reasons the public was upset was because they left her famous uni-brow out. An article addressed  the unibrow with this comment: "there was one major problem: The photo of Kahlo being used on the packaging, many felt, downplayed her famous unibrow, leaving the public to wonder whether or not the unconventional beauty had been Photoshopped to conform to traditional standards of attractiveness."

(this image shows the comparison between the unibrow) 


(this is the full Ulta Beauty x Frida Kahlo collection)


This leads me to my point: What was Ulta's intention with this collection? Was it genuine? Or was it simply to make sales? 





article: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/frida-kahlo-ultra-beauty-makeup-controversy-1603084

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