Italian Cosmetics Company Faces Backlash over Racist Product Name

by Imani Carroll

An Italian cosmetics company is in deep trouble for the racist name of their nail polish called “Thick as a N*gga”. Consumers are outraged and call for an apology and a removal of the polish.

According to “This Nail Polish Brand Is Under Fire for Its Racist Shade Name” by Danielle Gray published on Allure’s website, the company also lacks a diverse representation for women of color. The author of believes “brands are using racial insensitivity as a marketing ploy.”

Senior, Briaunna Embrey-Banks agrees, saying that it was all a publicity stunt: “[No one was] talking about [the] nail polish… [suddenly], they use the ‘N’ word, all of a sudden we are having this conversation.” She asked, “why else would [they] do it” other than for money and popularity.

The company Wycon Cosmetics apologizes saying that they are “deeply sorry” and they “admit [their] serious mistake.” However, many people really believe the apology was too late, and bogus.

One twitter user, @mmarziapan complains that it “took [them] a week to post [the apology]?” Another user, @sukisuzuki006, asked how they even agreed that the name was a good idea.

Junior Mariah Carter said that the title of the polish “makes [her] feel uncomfortable.”  Sophomore Helena Blanco feels we should take a stance by “[protesting] against the company… to get the nail polish removed.”

Senior Joshua Pitts said that the situation is “pretty messed up” because he feels that the company simply could’ve “[used] a color to represent [the] color of the nail polish.”

The backlash the company received was nothing like the H&M scandal that occurred earlier this year. H&M was under fire for the “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” sweatshirt. Most likely because it is a more well known company, and Wycon Cosmetics is not as well known. At this point, the attempt at a publicity stunt turned out to be a flop, and the company lost more customers than they tried to gain.