Beauty company Avon has removed a campaign, describing dimples on your face as cute but “not on your thighs”, after The Good Place actor Jameela Jamil criticised the brand for shaming cellulite.
[jwplayer iQytzQGl]
Sharing a screenshot of the campaign on Twitter, Jamil denounced the company for promoting a product that goes against a natural part of ageing.
“And yet EVERYONE has dimples on their thighs, I do, you do, and the CLOWNS at @Avon_UK certainly do,” she wrote on Twitter. “They’re inevitable, completely normal things. To make us fear them and try to ‘fix’ them, is to literally set us up for failure.”
https://twitter.com/jameelajamil/status/1086671811796848641
In a second ad for the product, which Jamil tweeted, the phrase “Every body is beautiful” is used to promote cellulite reducing creams.
“Every body is beautiful, unless they have any ‘flaws’ I guess,” Jamil tweeted. “What a gross abuse of the body positive movement. I want you all to look out for this constant manipulation. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It’s everywhere. You are constantly being manipulated to self hate.”
https://twitter.com/jameelajamil/status/1086712704415354880
Despite initially denying the ads were part of an Avon UK campaign, the company shared another statement in response to Jamil’s tweet, admitting they “missed the mark with this messaging”.
Avon also revealed they have removed the messaging from all of their future marketing materials.
Jamil retweeted the response, thanking the company for listening.
https://twitter.com/jameelajamil/status/1086748333966712832
Jamil is a force for the body positive movement, often using her platform to criticise beauty and detoxing companies for their harsh and unrealistic expectations for women.
She is also behind the Instagram account @i_weigh, described as a “movement for us to feel valuable and see how amazing we are beyond the flesh in our bones.”
Jamil, who has suffered from eating disorders in the past, uses the page to promote self-acceptance and positivity in all its forms.
