Insensitive Marketing: Ignorance or Cash Cow?

UPDATE:  Vogue Italia has since changed the name and description of their earrings, but you read it here first!  And no formal apology??  The nerve.  Please make sure you reblog and repost this so the world knows the truth!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Now Vogue Italia has issued an apology (I had to search for it online), but it's even WORSE than calling them "slave" earrings to begin with.  According to the Guardian, editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani explains it is a matter of really bad traslation from Italian into English.  They are really trying to diffuse the situation, but it just pisses me off even more.  Don't diminish my intellectual capacity with this stupid ass statement lady.

When I look at this picture, I think, wow- those gold accessories are hot!  Want to order one of these pieces?  Sure, let's start with the fabulous earrings.  When you try to find the exact pair, make sure you look for The Slave.  No, it's not a typo.  According to Vogue Italia [via Jezebel] it is the name of this specific type of earring.  Who effin' knew?!  Not me, and I've been a fan of, ohh let's see what they've been called FOREVER, hoop earrings since being a young girl in the late 80s.  Out of the hundreds of people on any fashion marketing team it takes to create the final image of their product, NOT ONE PERSON thought this name was insensitive, or at least distasteful?

I should never have any reason to go to the Italian Vogue website or write a blog post about them, considering we have American Vogue. Now, this magazine is getting free international publicity based off an insensitive fashion statement. According to the description, If the name brings to the mind the decorative traditions of the women of colour who were brought to the southern Unites States during the slave trade, the latest interpretation is pure freedom. Colored stones, symbolic pendants and multiple spheres. And the evolution goes on. Really? This is the most bullshit I have heard in my 32 years of life (well that's a stretch, but it's right up there).  How exactly could these earrings possibly remind me of women of colour during the slave trade when it is a KNOWN HISTORICAL FACT, that all African captives were stripped naked before boarding slave ships in order to #1 not have any cultural identity and #2 use any jewelry/clothing that could potentially be used as a weapon (for murder, escape OR suicide- of which many cases escape/suicide were one in the same). GET 400 YEARS WORTH OF F*CKS OUT OF HERE.  

Surprisingly, this isn't the first time this type of marketing snafu has happened..  Just last week, one of my favorite bloggers Miss Jia outed Nivea for their insensitive advertisement regarding Black men and their appearance.  The ad received enough retweets, blog posts, and backlash that Nivea issued a formal apology.  I'm sure they were also issued a big fat increase in sales and notoriety.  I can't confirm their sales figures in the past week or predict it for the fiscal year, but I can guarantee they will still be in business and people (including Blacks) will still buy their products.  I confess- I love Nivea's hand cremes and lotions, but made the conscious decision to not purchase anything from them again.  The same goes for any company or magazine that can be so insensitive to a group of people.

Nivea has never received so much free press. Ever.  And since they have issued a formal "apology," it's like it never happened.  Pretty much, their thought is we made a mistake (though it wasn't really a mistake b/c they knew it would get publicity and possibly an increase in sales); we apologize (but they really don't mean it- I mean honestly- do you think they DIDN'T know this ad was insensitive?); and we hope you continue to purchase our products (because after all, they know if you are a Nivea customer at least 95% of you will return despite their calculated misjudgement).

These incidents are no different than celebrities in general- any publicity is good publicity. I'm sure this blog post will have zero impact on the business sales of Nivea and Vogue Italia, or the person that wrote the horrible description of the earrings (though in my personal opinion they should be fired).  Nivea is probably sitting in their corner office laughing all the way to the bank and Vogue Italia's team is in amazement at the increased web traffic.  But I will take that risk of giving them publicity if it reaches even ONE person.  Never sacrifice your own consciousness or self-worth as a human being for profit. Or smell good lotion. Or trendy earrings.   

Side Note:  Re: earrings- This type of earring is sold by many different designers, retail chains, and street vendors.  I would definitely wear them, and you should too, as long as they aren't called "slave." Nivea, on the other hand, can eat dirt.