Bath and Body Works, a U.S.-based chain that sells toiletries, has released a line of products in honour of Black History Month. But the soaps and scents haven’t been greeted kindly by the Black community.
And the Black History Month Collection doesn’t seem to have much to do with Black culture.
“There’s nothing about Black history represented in any of their products,” said Kobe Charles, a 23-year-old who works for UPS in Toronto. “It’s absolutely ridiculous and disgusting.”
He said he finds the line “very belittling” and just corny.
“I personally don’t use anything from Bath and Body Works,” Charles said.
Charles has previously bought his girlfriend many products from the company, however, after this offering by the company, he said he will no longer be shopping there.
Bath and Body Works is known for its crazy collections, beautiful packaging, and amazing smells.
As February rolled around, loyal BBW fans on social media said they were expecting to see a new Valentine’s Day collection. Instead, social media exploded with stunned amazement when the company released a collection for Black History Month.
The company immediately came under fire on social media from the Black community, which has been extremely vocal on Twitter about its disappointment in the company and its new collection.
“One of my friends let me know that a Black artist designed one of the Bath and Body Works candles for Black History Month, while I think it’s nice they used a Black artist for at least one design, the fact that they didn’t feature or mention said artist in their post makes it worse somehow?” Wrote a Twitter user named Elle Vate in response to the new collection.
The Bath and Body Works website states that its campaign will donate $500,000 to the National Urban League and Columbus Urban League to support civil rights and racial justice, however, even with these donations, some believe that they are just taking advantage of Black History Month to make sales.
“It really does look like they are using Black History Month to capitalize on their sales and try to appeal to the Black community,” said Ibado Ali, a 20-year-old health science student from the University of Toronto. “I don’t think a major company like BBW should be using Black History Month as a way to enhance sales, as it defeats the purpose of celebrating it.”
Ali has been a fan of the company’s products for years, but she is now questioning her loyalty to the company.
“It doesn’t seem like they did anything special but use one of their scents and packaging it with traditional African art inspirations,” Ali said. “I would have just been happy with a Valentine’s Day collection. The whole collection just seems really disingenuous.”
As Black History Month continues, people have been urging Bath and Body Works to acknowledge the situation on social media. However, the company has stood by its collection and has yet to release any public statements.
“It doesn’t look like they put much effort into this idea and should re-evaluate their message as it does seem like cultural appropriation. Bath and Body Works needs to do better,” Ali said.