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The EFF said the ad has racist overtones and called for those who approved it to be fired. It disrupted operations at several Clicks stores across the country. Several Clicks stores were damaged by the riots.
Clicks had to obtain a court injunction to prohibit EFF protesters from intimidating their staff and clients and also damaging their property.
Shortly after outrage over the ad broke out last week, Clicks immediately removed it from its website, apologizing for what it said was an oversight on its team, and clarifying that the ad was not his, but his client’s, that belongs to Unilever.
However, this did not stop the EFF from attacking Clicks, as it demanded that it fire those responsible for publishing the ad and stop doing business with TRESemmé.
Except for a statement on its website apologizing for the damaging advertisement, Unilever has not commented on the incident.
His apology read: “We are very sorry that the images used in a TRESemmé South Africa marketing campaign on the Clicks website promote racist stereotypes about hair. The campaign set out to celebrate the beauty of all hair types and the range of solutions that TRESemmé offers, but we were wrong.
“The images are not aligned with the values of our brand, nor of Clicks. TRESemmé SA apologizes for the harm that these images have caused. We also apologize to the Clicks group. We are investigating how this happened and why it was not detected, and we will take all necessary steps to ensure that it does not happen again. “
It was not immediately clear whether Clicks and Unilever would hold a joint meeting with the EFF.
The Red Berets had announced that their meeting with Unilever was which will take place at the EFF headquarters in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, starting at 10 a.m.
“The EFF delegation will be headed by Commander-in-Chief Julius Malema, while the Unilever delegation will be headed by Keagan Alicks,” the EFF said.
In his meeting with Clicks, the CEO of the company, Vikesh Ramsunder, would lead the delegation.
After the debacle, Clicks announced that it was removing TRESemmé products from its shelves. Since then, other retail giants have followed suit.
Meanwhile, the EFF moved to clarify that the meeting did not mark the end of their protest action.
“We categorically declare that the EFF protests will continue as long as we involve these two entities and hold them accountable for their racism,” the party added.
TimesLIVE
