Cover Girl's Use Of Gays & Blacks: Progressive? Or Pandering?

As previously reported, Cover Girl recently made a deal with Ellen DeGeneres to be the "face" of its brand. But Ellen isn't CoverGirl's first interesting pick: They also have Queen Latifah. As a post on Jossip points out, Queen Latifah is black, not stick-thin, and often rumored to be gay. The brand has also used black ladies like Brandy, Rihanna, Eva Pigford and Kiara Kubukuru in its ads. Jossip asks the question: Is Cover Girl the most progressive cosmetics company? A commenter on Jossip says: No.

Writes matukonyc:

"Unfortunately, I think describing P & G as 'progressive' is a bit naive. Cover Girl is among the least expensive of major drugstore cosmetics; one could easily argue that marketing to black women is a cynical attempt to make poor people buy their cheap product. Are KFC and McDonald's progressive because they use black people in ads? As for being 'gay-friendly,' I think the fact that Ellen DeGeneres has a popular daytime talk show with the right kind of demographics is why she's in their ads. Capitalism trumps prejudice every time, if the price is right!"

Well, it is a business, after all. But Cover Girl could use whomever they please. Or they could use black woman and, you know, lighten her skin. While it's terrible that cosmetics companies generally promote a "white beauty" standard, is it also awful that only the low-budget brands are willing to embrace the gays and minorities? Should blacks and gays be insulted by their inclusion by Cover Girl? Or, seeing as how many of the people who shop at drug stores for cosmetics are young — or teens — is Cover Girl setting a good example by using diverse "faces"?

Is Cover Girl The Most Progressive Cosmetics Company? [Jossip]
Earlier: Double Takes
Photoshop of Horrors

Send an email to Dodai, the author of this post, at dodai@jezebel.com.

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