Coloring your prejudices: nail-polish marketing, “slut-shaming,” and feminist activism

Abstract

The Colombian firm Masglo sells nail polish across much of Latin America. Some of its colors have been marketed through words associated with "slut-shaming" and other misogynistic concepts, which stimulated a 2015 consumer debate on Twitter. We analyze the tweets from those exchanges and relate them to feminism, antifeminism, and the status of women in Colombian society. Our results show that female clients, who were the main participants in the debate, mostly favored the company's strategy. Some nodes highlighted deeply-rooted Colombian gender roles, or reflected on sociocultural status and femininity as political issues. Nail varnishes which suggested associations with feminism, such as "empowered", "diverse," or "human," were practically ignored. The debate changed little: in keeping with the nation's macho culture and commercially-narrow beauty norms, a major Colombian company continues to exploit invidious stereotypes. In future, a cross-class women's solidarity with all of those engaged in the beauty industry must emerge-something that social media directed at consumers cannot provide by itself.

In the mood for disconnection

“…Through a creative use of language that constructs irony, cynicism, and parody, the branding of nail polish and make-up estheticized under the "offline" imaginary attempts to position the brands as modern and attuned with the cosmopolitan, hyperconnected consumer, as well as to create a sense of sophistication in the user. These strategies may not only result in a fleeting smile from the reader but also invite virality, as Barrios et al (2020) found-which in the theme of disconnection accentuates the irony and cynicism.…”

The social phenomenon of trolling: understanding the discourse and social practices of online provocation

“…These operate alongside sexist, racist and patriarchal artificial intelligence 'experiences' (e.g., Puntoni et al, 2020) underwritten by algorithmic bias (Schroeder, 2020). Alarmingly, some companies promote their products with extremely problematic labels -the Columbian makeup manufacturer, Masglo, being the most obvious example -and this means we are now once again witnessing the use of demeaning tropes and 'abuse' as central to 'marketing strategy' (Barrios et al, 2020). In equal measure, Wei and Bunjun (2020) ask us to remember that marketing, advertising and all the communications vehicles that are available for application can potentially be a force for good.…”

#MeToo and beyond: inequality and injustice in marketing practice and academia

“…These operate alongside sexist, racist and patriarchal artificial intelligence 'experiences' (e.g., Puntoni et al, 2020) underwritten by algorithmic bias (Schroeder, 2020). Alarmingly, some companies promote their products with extremely problematic labels -the Columbian makeup manufacturer, Masglo, being the most obvious example -and this means we are now once again witnessing the use of demeaning tropes and 'abuse' as central to 'marketing strategy' (Barrios et al, 2020). In equal measure, Wei and Bunjun (2020) ask us to remember that marketing, advertising and all the communications vehicles that are available for application can potentially be a force for good.…”

“…Allies can help create supportive, nurturing and safe environments in universities and industry alike (Thompson-Whiteside et al, 2020). In their paper, Ekant Veer, Kseniia Zahrai and Susannah Stevens along with a host of academic and administratively oriented respondents carefully explain the logic behind our need for allies, where they can help, what we can all do, and the systems that can help us manage the types of discrimination and micro aggressions that many of us will unfortunately face over our careers (see also Barrios et al, 2020). Veer, Zahrai and Stevens register that academia can reflect the best human traits, and some of the worst.…”

“…After all, it is disconcerting how -for instance, -white supremacist views and values skew the output of chatbots soon after their release; Tay, the Twitter bot distributed by Microsoft, being an exemplar (see Puntoni et al, 2020). The same can be said of the invocation of antifeminist hashtags 'to demean' specific groups (e.g., Barrios et al, 2020).…”