Why #Boycott is a social media nightmare for your brand and how is Ulta Beauty dealing with it.
Ulta Beauty faced calls for a boycott on social media after inviting a controversial transgender influencer on a podcast about ‘girlhood’ in their latest episode of Ulta Beauty’s bi-weekly podcast.
Why is Ulta Beauty doing Podcasts?
On August 30th, 2022 Ulta Beauty, the nation’s largest beauty retailer with more than 1,200 salons across the country announced a launch of a campaign Beauty& with the motive of taking the industry beauty forward by widening the lens of beauty and how it should inspire all to reclaim beauty in their own ways. The brand decided to root in insights from cultural leaders and beauty enthusiasts, the campaign spans compelling creative, the brand’s first-ever podcast, a limited edition t-shirt collection and in effort to celebrate how beauty is more than skin-deep, a $200,000 donation to the Jed Foundation, a national non-profit supporting the mental health of teens and young adults.
Why a positive initiative landed Ulta Beauty in trouble?
In the latest episode of the brand’s podcast, David Lopez, a gender-fluid and Latinx celebrity hairstylist, welcomed TikTok influencer, actress and comedian, Dylan Mulvaney and their conversation caused a stir on social media. The brand was slammed by furious women for hosting Dylan Mulvaney who is a transgender on The Joy Of Girlhood. Many conservative netizens then announced that they are boycotting Ulta Beauty the release of this episode of The Beauty Of. The conversation between the two personalities was not taken so positively when they spoke about their personal journeys and identity issues LGBTQ community. Mulvaney had been accused of using a ‘womanface’ by some feminists in the past already. It was said that “she claims to play or act parts of a woman she enjoys, with none of the misogyny faced by females on a day-to-day basis.”
The negative impact on the brand’s outlook —
The audience and customers of the brand took to their social media handles to slam the podcast, saying the company and influencer were ‘trolling women’ which led to Ulta beauty trending on social media but with the #BOYCOTT. The backlash left subscribers unimpressed with some accusing Dylan and Ulta for showcasing her as likening womanhood as ‘something that can be worn like a costume’. They faced numerous negative comments but the biggest question out of all of them being ‘Who is your target audience’. Customers felt offended that the brand chose to bring on board transgender women to talk about beauty when they had undergone severe changes calling it not normal.
Could this have been avoided?
While selecting a celebrity or a famous personality to star in your campaigns, it can work both positively or negatively. I am sure Ulta Beauty thought that they were evolving as a brand by bringing in communities not based on their sex, gener or race. But sometimes, in order to keep up with the trends, the brand forgets that they have a loyal customer or the primary target market base that they had been creating for years and forget on how to target them. While the brand can choose their cast for the podcasts, we understand that what they talk about is not in the brand’s control as they are live and spontaneous. Personally, I feel like choosing to do a podcast is always the most dangerous for brands because conversations can steer in directions which is totally uncontrollable. In this case, it was clearly the brand’s mistake. Had they not signed them for the podcast, this situation would have never occurred.
Was Ulta Beauty able to save themselves from the backlash?
After hiding a lot of angry comments they received from their customers for a while, Ulta finally pleaded for dignity and empathy by releasing an email statement by VP of PR Eileen Ziesemer. She said, “We believe beauty is for everyone. And while we recognize some conversations we host will challenge perspectives and opinions, we believe constructive dialogue is one important way to move beauty forward. Regardless of how someone identifies, they deserve our respect.” The brand also then started repsonding to angry customers on social media — ‘At Ulta Beauty, we believe that beauty is for everyone — and we kindly request that everyone be treated with respect on our channels.’
Lesson we can all take away to stay away from #Boycott —
Make campaigns. We love campaigns. Spread your word and creativity in the world but do not forget your target audience because you become giant by considering the feelings of your customers who pay for your products.
