In case you have spanish readers like me, here's my post about MAC/RODARTE on my blog: http://www.secretodebelleza.com/2010/07/controvertida-coleccion-rodarte-de-mac.html
I really hope that consumer power and people protesting will get MAC to pull this collection or at the very least change the product names. I first found out about this controversy via Temptalia and must admit that I was not aware of the situation in Juarez. I am glad that I have been enlightened and hope that people take up arms. I've read up on the designers' inspirations behind their fashion collection as well as their "statement" on their MAC collection and thought they came across as stupid, ignorant and vacuous to not see why people would be horrified at this. I'm glad that Temptalia left the comments up on her blog but am disappointed at trying to play Switzerland in the whole affair. I won't be going near this collection with a barge pole.
What is it with brands acting before thinking at the moment?!....This feels reminiscent of Selfridges, Manchester boo boo wiht the hanging McQueen dress. To think that there was a development process behind this is baffling.
What the hell were MAC/Rodarte thinking?!?! Does no one know how to use google and wikkipedia?? If they have meant to highlight the issue in Juarez, then its working. But I fail to see how this mess would entice even die hard MAC addicts to purchase from this collection. Its sad really, from VIVA Glam to this! Epic fail MAC.
What the hell were MAC/Rodarte thinking?!?! Does no one know how to use google and wikkipedia?? If they have meant to highlight the issue in Juarez, then its working. But I fail to see how this mess would entice even die hard MAC addicts to purchase from this collection. Its sad really, from VIVA Glam to this! Epic fail MAC.
What the hell were MAC/Rodarte thinking?!?! Does no one know how to use google and wikkipedia?? If they have meant to highlight the issue in Juarez, then its working. But I fail to see how this mess would entice even die hard MAC addicts to purchase from this collection. Its sad really, from VIVA Glam to this! Epic fail MAC.
I can see that the Beauty blogging cummunity have taken up this cause but what about the fashionistas?? Rodarte are such darlings of the fashion world that there's rarely a bad word said about them as they're part of the in-crowd with the high fashion lot. I wonder if any fashion bloggers dare speak out about this or whether brush this aside as controversy and bad taste comes along regularly in fashion imagery. There wasn't much brouhaha about the Rodarte fashion show the after all.
@konglishbeauty perhaps it was forgotten quickly - fashion changes so fast. Perhaps MAC is hoping that this too will be forgotten quickly when the rampage for the Christmas collection gets everyone going again...
HAs happened before, will probably happen again...
I think it's frankly disgusting that MAC did not realise how inappropriate and tasteless this collection would be. I honestly hope they withdraw it and find another way to help the women of Juarez.
What makes it worse is that it's MAC behind it. MAC have always been supposed to be about more than make-up. They've always been political and yet they've shown a lack of policial awareness in this entire affair so far. http://konglishbeauty.com/2010/07/19/mac-rodarte-the-controversy-and-why-we-care/
Some great points - its interesting to see the different angles raised in all the posts about this. I was interested tgo get the perspective of an "industry insider" here on the marketing strategies etc that must have taken place to bring this collection to life... I was also interested in LillianLow's piece about the artistic merits of the collection... its also great that we are coming together like this. x
I live in Southern California and taught ESL (English as a Second Language) to literally thousands of Latinos and Latinas during my 38 years with Los Angeles Unified School District. I have heard first hand accounts of the atrocities of Juarez from many of my students and their families that would cause you to have sleepless nights. That MAC would--for even one moment--think that the choice of a promo model made up to look like a cadaver is inspirational is totally beyond me. The choice of names for the products combined with the promo picture is appalling. I agree whole heartedly that MAC should donate the entire proceeds if anyone is callous enough to buy anything from this particular collection.
OMG. the tampon thing is truly revolting. This whole inspiration is sickening. no other word for it. We are now 35 bloggers to have united and shared our thoughts on the topic: http://bit.ly/bloggerzunite I doubt we can changed things but at least we tried xx liloo/@tsunimee http://bit.ly/macrodarteshame
Thanks so much for posting this - I'm so grateful that we in Australia won't be getting this collection because it is disturbing beyond belief to think they found 'inspiration' in such atrocities. Honestly, MAC and Rodarte need to take a good long look at themselves.
You're right -- they clearly didn't think this idea through. I also agree that they should find some better way to help these women, as throwing money doesn't always solves problems.
I find it especially sad that these offensive products are supposed to make women feel beautiful.
I wrote a post on this as well, please check it out if you get a chance.
Thanks so much for writing about this - I had no idea this was going on (immersed as I so often am in my months/years old make-up bag). I think Konglish made a good point about whether fashion bloggers will be brave enough to speak out about this kind of misappropriation of issues, it actually quite stomach-churning when you think about it. But then there's the problem too - most of the time we don't think about this. Maybe we should.
I spent a fascinating evening yesterday reading through all of the blog posts. The situation in Juarez is shocking and I'm so thankful for the 'power of the beauty blogs' for highlighting it.
It's horrendous and this is an excellent post. So dreadful to think that these poor women (who don't give two hoots about MAC) are being exploited in this way.
Unless you've been living on another Planet for the past couple of decades, we're all aware of the corporate exploitation of cheap labour around the World. This story serves to slap you sharply in the face with that fact. It might have been acceptable had M.A.C. and Rodarte been using this collection as a fund raising tool to raise awareness and try to effect change in Juarez. Instead, they're backpedalling after the fact in an effort to save face.
There's dozens of beauty brands out there ladies. Surely you can find one who's corporate ethics don't leave a very bad taste in your mouth.
Great blog post, I am shocked that MAC (and Rodarte), with all their staff and PR departments could possibly have thought this was a good idea! I definitely think that they were purposely using this as a publicity stunt to attract attention. Well it got the wrong sort of attention! I think that MAC should be contributing ALL the profits they make to a relevant charity tackling the issues in Juarez...
Nicely put and I never knew about such an awful thing. I will look into this more and will be banning Johnson & Johnson products from my house too. The range should be withdrawn out of respect; I wonder if or how it will sell with such a backlash.
As someone said, yes, MAC has always been political but it has in recent years distanced itself from its early causes. They went from being a haven for those who didn't fit the mould to being the cookie cutter itself. For the past few years, they've been actively courting the type of customer who would ridicule their original fan base. They've told employees to tone it down and asked gay men working for them to be less flamboyant so they don't accidentally piss off conservative customers...the types of customers who at best don't think gays should marry, some of them who possibly don't think gays should even live. MAC is not who it used to be but their branding is so powerful that no one realizes that they are being Lauder-ized from the inside out. Even the MAC AIDS Fund has been focusing its energies on non-gay causes. So, to hear that MAC has done something culturally insensitive does not surprise me. They've eaten their own young...I wouldn't expect them to care about anyone else's.
Hopefully MAC and Rodarte will wake up and realise that the only way to get out of the hole they have dug themselves into, is to donate all the money to charity.
I also posted a small post in my blog. Since it is Mexican, we don't need much explanation. But we are against this line http://glossboudoir.blogspot.com/p/opinion_19.html
Wow, for usual I do not feature MAC on my beautyblog because I do not like MAC.
I do not believe this, I mean... they did this? This is not only embarassing, this is... I am lacking words, honestly. Will feature this, too. Thanky BBB!
I'm surprised about MAC especially with the things they do for aids I guess human rights is joke to them. I'm so sickened by it that I will not be buying MAC or makeup from their parent company Estee Lauder. Jeez, what next concentration camp victims, twin towers campaigns? They should of had money donated to the cause before trying to capatalize on the victims of Juarez.
35 comments:
Excellent points.
In case you have spanish readers like me, here's my post about MAC/RODARTE on my blog:
http://www.secretodebelleza.com/2010/07/controvertida-coleccion-rodarte-de-mac.html
I really appreciate that everyone has taken such a passionate interest in speaking out about this - well spoken, by the way :)
shocking. these head honchos have neither google nor common sense, it seems.
Claire
I really hope that consumer power and people protesting will get MAC to pull this collection or at the very least change the product names. I first found out about this controversy via Temptalia and must admit that I was not aware of the situation in Juarez. I am glad that I have been enlightened and hope that people take up arms. I've read up on the designers' inspirations behind their fashion collection as well as their "statement" on their MAC collection and thought they came across as stupid, ignorant and vacuous to not see why people would be horrified at this. I'm glad that Temptalia left the comments up on her blog but am disappointed at trying to play Switzerland in the whole affair. I won't be going near this collection with a barge pole.
What is it with brands acting before thinking at the moment?!....This feels reminiscent of Selfridges, Manchester boo boo wiht the hanging McQueen dress. To think that there was a development process behind this is baffling.
What the hell were MAC/Rodarte thinking?!?! Does no one know how to use google and wikkipedia?? If they have meant to highlight the issue in Juarez, then its working. But I fail to see how this mess would entice even die hard MAC addicts to purchase from this collection. Its sad really, from VIVA Glam to this! Epic fail MAC.
What the hell were MAC/Rodarte thinking?!?! Does no one know how to use google and wikkipedia?? If they have meant to highlight the issue in Juarez, then its working. But I fail to see how this mess would entice even die hard MAC addicts to purchase from this collection. Its sad really, from VIVA Glam to this! Epic fail MAC.
What the hell were MAC/Rodarte thinking?!?! Does no one know how to use google and wikkipedia?? If they have meant to highlight the issue in Juarez, then its working. But I fail to see how this mess would entice even die hard MAC addicts to purchase from this collection. Its sad really, from VIVA Glam to this! Epic fail MAC.
I can see that the Beauty blogging cummunity have taken up this cause but what about the fashionistas?? Rodarte are such darlings of the fashion world that there's rarely a bad word said about them as they're part of the in-crowd with the high fashion lot. I wonder if any fashion bloggers dare speak out about this or whether brush this aside as controversy and bad taste comes along regularly in fashion imagery. There wasn't much brouhaha about the Rodarte fashion show the after all.
@konglishbeauty perhaps it was forgotten quickly - fashion changes so fast. Perhaps MAC is hoping that this too will be forgotten quickly when the rampage for the Christmas collection gets everyone going again...
HAs happened before, will probably happen again...
www.MakeupAdviceForum.com
I think it's frankly disgusting that MAC did not realise how inappropriate and tasteless this collection would be. I honestly hope they withdraw it and find another way to help the women of Juarez.
What makes it worse is that it's MAC behind it. MAC have always been supposed to be about more than make-up. They've always been political and yet they've shown a lack of policial awareness in this entire affair so far.
http://konglishbeauty.com/2010/07/19/mac-rodarte-the-controversy-and-why-we-care/
Some great points - its interesting to see the different angles raised in all the posts about this. I was interested tgo get the perspective of an "industry insider" here on the marketing strategies etc that must have taken place to bring this collection to life... I was also interested in LillianLow's piece about the artistic merits of the collection... its also great that we are coming together like this. x
very well written! im so pleased we are all raising awareness on this topic!
you can read my view here:
http://bit.ly/baiPm6
www.perfectly-polished-nails.com
X
I live in Southern California and taught ESL (English as a Second Language) to literally thousands of Latinos and Latinas during my 38 years with Los Angeles Unified School District. I have heard first hand accounts of the atrocities of Juarez from many of my students and their families that would cause you to have sleepless nights. That MAC would--for even one moment--think that the choice of a promo model made up to look like a cadaver is inspirational is totally beyond me. The choice of names for the products combined with the promo picture is appalling. I agree whole heartedly that MAC should donate the entire proceeds if anyone is callous enough to buy anything from this particular collection.
OMG. the tampon thing is truly revolting. This whole inspiration is sickening. no other word for it. We are now 35 bloggers to have united and shared our thoughts on the topic: http://bit.ly/bloggerzunite
I doubt we can changed things but at least we tried xx
liloo/@tsunimee
http://bit.ly/macrodarteshame
Thanks so much for posting this - I'm so grateful that we in Australia won't be getting this collection because it is disturbing beyond belief to think they found 'inspiration' in such atrocities. Honestly, MAC and Rodarte need to take a good long look at themselves.
You're right -- they clearly didn't think this idea through. I also agree that they should find some better way to help these women, as throwing money doesn't always solves problems.
I find it especially sad that these offensive products are supposed to make women feel beautiful.
I wrote a post on this as well, please check it out if you get a chance.
http://mylipsbutbetter.blogspot.com/2010/07/mac-for-rodarte-my-two-cents.html
It's in extremely poor taste, and not the way to highlight the situation in Juarez in my opinion.
Thanks so much for writing about this - I had no idea this was going on (immersed as I so often am in my months/years old make-up bag).
I think Konglish made a good point about whether fashion bloggers will be brave enough to speak out about this kind of misappropriation of issues, it actually quite stomach-churning when you think about it. But then there's the problem too - most of the time we don't think about this. Maybe we should.
I spent a fascinating evening yesterday reading through all of the blog posts. The situation in Juarez is shocking and I'm so thankful for the 'power of the beauty blogs' for highlighting it.
It's horrendous and this is an excellent post. So dreadful to think that these poor women (who don't give two hoots about MAC) are being exploited in this way.
Unless you've been living on another Planet for the past couple of decades, we're all aware of the corporate exploitation of cheap labour around the World. This story serves to slap you sharply in the face with that fact. It might have been acceptable had M.A.C. and Rodarte been using this collection as a fund raising tool to raise awareness and try to effect change in Juarez. Instead, they're backpedalling after the fact in an effort to save face.
There's dozens of beauty brands out there ladies. Surely you can find one who's corporate ethics don't leave a very bad taste in your mouth.
Pity there's a photo from an article about a MAC product right under this article.
Very well put!
MAC have disgusted me with the way they have monopolised the professional makeup artist's scene for some time.
This just about sums them - absolutely shameless.
Really amazing post. x
Great blog post, I am shocked that MAC (and Rodarte), with all their staff and PR departments could possibly have thought this was a good idea! I definitely think that they were purposely using this as a publicity stunt to attract attention. Well it got the wrong sort of attention! I think that MAC should be contributing ALL the profits they make to a relevant charity tackling the issues in Juarez...
xxx
I am a Mexican Beauty Blogger and I couln't agree with you more. This is an offense.... Too bad!
Nicely put and I never knew about such an awful thing. I will look into this more and will be banning Johnson & Johnson products from my house too. The range should be withdrawn out of respect; I wonder if or how it will sell with such a backlash.
As someone said, yes, MAC has always been political but it has in recent years distanced itself from its early causes. They went from being a haven for those who didn't fit the mould to being the cookie cutter itself. For the past few years, they've been actively courting the type of customer who would ridicule their original fan base. They've told employees to tone it down and asked gay men working for them to be less flamboyant so they don't accidentally piss off conservative customers...the types of customers who at best don't think gays should marry, some of them who possibly don't think gays should even live. MAC is not who it used to be but their branding is so powerful that no one realizes that they are being Lauder-ized from the inside out. Even the MAC AIDS Fund has been focusing its energies on non-gay causes. So, to hear that MAC has done something culturally insensitive does not surprise me. They've eaten their own young...I wouldn't expect them to care about anyone else's.
Wonderful post. I have written about this travesty on my blog too:
http://susysmakeupbox.blogspot.com/2010/07/mac-rodarte-controversy.html
Hopefully MAC and Rodarte will wake up and realise that the only way to get out of the hole they have dug themselves into, is to donate all the money to charity.
I also posted a small post in my blog. Since it is Mexican, we don't need much explanation. But we are against this line
http://glossboudoir.blogspot.com/p/opinion_19.html
Wow, for usual I do not feature MAC on my beautyblog because I do not like MAC.
I do not believe this, I mean... they did this?
This is not only embarassing, this is... I am lacking words, honestly. Will feature this, too. Thanky BBB!
I'm surprised about MAC especially with the things they do for aids I guess human rights is joke to them. I'm so sickened by it that I will not be buying MAC or makeup from their parent company Estee Lauder.
Jeez, what next concentration camp victims, twin towers campaigns? They should of had money donated to the cause before trying to capatalize on the victims of Juarez.
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