EFF and Unilever reach agreement over Clicks hair advert

Multinational consumer goods company Unilever is expected to donate a minimum of 10 000 sanitary pads and sanitisers to informal settlements which will be identified by the Economic Freedom Fighters.

This was one of the outcomes of a meeting between the EFF and Unilever on Thursday after a hair care advert posted on the Clicks’ social media sites last week aroused anger from residents.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the EFF said they met with all parties regarding the advert put out by TRESemmé.

“The EFF and Unilever agreed that the advert is offensive and racist,” EFF national spokesperson, Vuyani Pambo, said.

He said the companies refused to divulge the names of the people responsible for the advert, however the director involved in the campaign has since left the company and the country.

He added that Unilever has committed to following internal investigations and take the necessary disciplinary action against those still employed at the company.

“Unilever has expressed remorse to all South Africans, black women in particular, for the racist TRESemmé SA image. Unilever will withdraw TRESemmé SA products from all retail stores for a period of 10 days as a demonstration of its remorse for the offensive and racist image,” Pambo said.

He added that the EFF and Unilever have now put the matter to rest.

“We have agreed to hold further discussions on transformation within Unilever relating to procurement, empowerment, employment equity and localisation,” he said.

Since the furore, a number of major retailers have decided to stop stocking TRESemmé products.

The Shoprite/ Checkers group (the largest supermarket chain store in Africa) and Pick n Pay (the second-largest supermarket chain in the country) have decided to join Clicks in delisting Unilever’s TRESemmé brand from its list of suppliers. Dis-Chem and Makro have also opted to remove the products from their shelves. IOL