Korean beauty company Stylenanda came under fire this week for a nail polish advertisement that was likely trying to promote inclusivity and diversity—but went completely awry. An Instagram ad from the company featured two hands, one pale and the other dark-skinned, and people noticed something suspicious about the darker complexion.
YouTuber Darcei Amanda tweeted about the uncanny ad.
What in tarnation 👀 pic.twitter.com/8RULkX8vi0
— It Girl Darcei (@MissDarcei) July 18, 2018
The model’s palm had the same pigmentation as the rest of the hand, indicating, alarmingly, that the hand did not belong to an actual Black person.
https://twitter.com/sleepy_tokki/status/1019704815818018818
On Twitter, people speculated whether the hand in the photo was covered in dark foundation or doctored with Photoshop.
https://twitter.com/Viktoria_MSP/status/1019948195626053633
Either way, the ad seemed to be presenting “Blackface” on a hand.
why is that hand wearing black face
— 🌹Nani🌹 (@lily_lovexo) July 19, 2018
Comments flooded in on the company’s Instagram post, apparently leading to the removal of the original post and the website listing for the particular shade of nail polish displayed in the ad.
If y’all want the brand’s attention their Instagram is StyleNanda_korea pic.twitter.com/wlSrF1D45K
— It Girl Darcei (@MissDarcei) July 20, 2018
UPDATE: The color has been removed from the website
— It Girl Darcei (@MissDarcei) July 20, 2018
In a vlog about the misguided advertisement, Darcei Amanda said her response was mostly “confusion.” Why would Stylenanda, whose campaigns typically features pale, Korean models, choose now to try and appeal to a more diverse demographic—with orange nail polish, no less? And if appealing to people of color was the objective, why not just hire people of color?
“The moral of the story is, if you want to appeal to Black people, maybe hire some Black people,” Darcei Amanda says in her vlog.
Stylenanda did not immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment.
