Uoma Beauty’s New ‘We See You’ Campaign Relays a Definition of Inclusivity That Founder Sharon Chuter Needs the Beauty Industry to Hear
“We see color — tell us again that you don’t.”
These words commence Uoma Beauty’s new “We See You” campaign, which taps muses of all walks, including models Jasmine Sanders and Leomie Anderson, in order to demonstrate the power of seeing — and serving — consumers for who they are, which founder Sharon Chuter believes can only be accomplished by celebrating the unique complexities of individuals.
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“When we tell people we see color, they think we’re being divisive,” said Chuter, who launched Uoma Beauty in 2019 with 51 foundation shades, and has remained steadfast in championing inclusivity in the beauty industry since. “Seeing color is about appreciating people for their authentic selves, and not homogenizing them into this, ‘Oh, I don’t see color, everybody’s the same,’ — no, everybody’s not the same. Everybody is different. Differences are not what make us bad, they are actually what make us good and powerful.”
The campaign video, which is just shy of two minutes long, aims to emphasize that opting not to see color is a form of erasure — of one’s skin color, yes, but in many cases their heritage, too.
“I’m hoping that through this campaign, that message of the importance of culture finally lands in a way that is more digestible to people,” said Chuter. “The word ‘inclusion’ now, it can be quite cheap. If we want people to show up as their authentic selves, we as brands need to see them and include them.”
True inclusivity goes further than representation; it requires investment, too, Chuter pointed out.
“We’ve come a long way, but the entire ecosystem still doesn’t understand what it takes to truly create inclusivity,” she said. “We know that the face of America is changing, we know that the white majority is going to come down by 2040 — but retailers are being very knee-jerk, and the same thing with brands, where if they release something and it doesn’t hit the same sales as something we’ve legacy-trained customers to want for 100 years, we’re going to remove it — we’re going to delete it, and it’s the same with investors.”
Earlier this year, Uoma’s full makeup assortment, which ranges from $18 to $44, launched on QVC.
“We have been in super, hyper growth mode,” said Chuter. “Inclusivity isn’t a simple problem with a simple solution; it’s a long game, and both retailers, investors and brands have to be prepared to invest in that, and understand that they’re going to start reaping the results in about seven or eight years’ time.”
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