Tarte Cosmetics Posts Racist Meme on Instagram
As far as the beauty industry has come in terms of representation and inclusion, it clearly still has a long way to go. Tarte Cosmetics is the latest makeup brand to come under fire for posting a racist meme on social media, which was immediately dragged online. The meme confusingly inserted the racial slur "ching chong" in the middle of a comparison between "my brain during the day" and "my brain at night" for no apparent reason. The brand's caption on the now-deleted Instagram read, "Yup! Do you experience this, tartelettes???"
Social media was quick to react, calling the company out for perpetuating a tired, racist joke against Asians. After being slammed on Twitter and Instagram, Tarte took down the post and reportedly issued an apology (also since removed) that featured a picture of a kitten. "We deeply apologize to anyone we offended today, it was a complete oversight & we absolutely didn't mean to post with that intention. We removed immediately & spoke with the intern explaining why it was offensive," the brand wrote, concluding with a heart. That apology didn't go over so well with commenters, who pointed out that the vague statement didn't apologize directly to the Asian community.
The brand has since issued another statement on their Instagram, written by company CEO and founder Maureen Kelly. "I'm sorry and embarrassed," reads the photo. "Yesterday, we made a mistake by sharing an insensitive meme with a racist term. There is NO EXCUSE for using any type of racial slur regardless of the context. We understand that this ignorance has caused us to lose loyal fans and we completely understand. I take full responsibility, and we thank you all for helping us to educate our team each other." The caption of the photo on the Tarte Instagram goes on to say, "What saddens us even more is seeing our community turn against each other in the comments with hateful & negative language, which is why we've disabled them for this post. Let's work together to start a more positive conversation. Change starts with us."
While it's disappointing to see Tarte take so long to get it right — not to mention use a racial slur in the first place — we're glad to see them working to educate their team and take responsibility for their post. While it may not have been the original poster's intention to be racist, as the initial apology claims, the language was racist nonetheless — and that's never ok. Hopefully, the backlash encourages brands to pay more attention to their language and create a positive, safe conversation for all of their customers.
Photos Courtesy of Instagram/@tartecosmetics, Twitter/@heymichellelee.
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