Amena Khan
When I stopped laughing at the thought of a hijab-wearing model being chosen by L’Oréal to promote hair products, I had to sigh at their choice of spokesperson.
Here are some of her toxic views on the Middle East’s only democracy, Israel:
@RamAbdu @David_Cameron #AskDavid Do you staunchly support Israel’s actions in terrorising innocent civilians?
— Amena (@amenaofficial) July 10, 2014
U repeatedly say “nobody is above the law”. Well, under international law, Israel is an illegal state. Yet u support them. EXPLAIN #AskDavid— Amena (@amenaofficial) July 11, 2014
Remember: the brutal murder of Palestinians had been occurring MANY years before the formation of Hamas. Israel’s excuses are blatant lies.— Amena (@amenaofficial) July 20, 2014
@henrystern1 @PalestineFreer For CENTURIES Arabs, Jews & Christians lived peacefully side by side in Palestine. Until the creation of Israel— Amena (@amenaofficial) July 20, 2014
Is this really the kind of messenger L’Oréal wants to prop up?
[…] “How many brands are doing things like this? Not many,” Khan said in a powerful interview with Vogue.
“They’re literally putting a girl in a headscarf – whose hair you can’t see – in a hair campaign. Because what they’re really valuing through the campaign is the voices that we have.”[…]
In her own words, Khan is revealing that L’Oréal is using the ad campaign to make a political statement rather than to sell a product. After all who is going to want to buy a shampoo that claims to make your hair bouncy and shiny if the hair model is unable to show her hair? Khan’s anti-Israel views are particularly relevant when the reason for her hiring had nothing to do with her being a suitable hair model.
“L’Oréal Paris UK are both proud and excited to be launching such a unique and disruptive campaign for the haircare market, a category which in previous years has been perceived as the cliché of beauty advertising,“ Adrien Koskas, L’Oréal Paris UK general manager, said in a statement.
“We want to create campaigns that deeply connect with our consumers through spokespeople that inject sincerity, emotion and personality.”
They forgot to add anti-Semitism and support for the extremist BDS campaign.
