Curls, Girls, Businesses & Bullying!
Do consumers prefer companies with a purpose in their mission statements? Does a business' story effect their brand? The answer depends on who you ask. Personally I love working with all businesses as a professional, but certain brands have a special place in my heart. As a consumer, I noticed I am loyal to brands that try to relate to me. For example, I only purchase Dove body wash. I love the various commercials and messages Dove sends to consumers. Recently Dove created a campaign that targets women with curly hair. The commercial and videos really touched me, because I was that curly hair child in the video when I was younger. I included the video in this post.
The video also forces me to question why these young ladies did not like their beautiful curly hair? I believe self esteem was the issue for me personally. I didn't look like the other children so I wanted my hair straightened by any means necessary. Until recently, I was against wearing my hair curly in the court room.
I came across an article a few months back and cried. The article was about a young lady with curly natural hair that was the victim of what I can only describe as bullying in her school due to her hair. This young lady suffered serious ridicule by the children in her class as well as the administration for the school. Yes, I said the administration appeared as an active participant in bullying this child. The child is now homeschooled and mentors other young ladies who face these issues.
I couldn't believe the administration would allow this to occur in a private school setting of all places. I set out to get to know this young lady after I learned she was the spokesperson for a natural hair care line. After speaking to both Vanessa VanDyke and her mother Sabrina Kent, I was nothing short of amazed. This young lady took her energy and focused on positivity rather than sulking in the issues that faced her. She and her mother are the founders of Vanessa's Essence Natural Hair Care. In addition they aim to start a Foundation that will provide anti bullying initiatives for schools and children in the community. I love that every purchase will donate money to the foundation and they are using this to help put an end to bullying. I recently joined their initiative in a program sponsored by the American Bar Association known as bullyproofing. For more information about Vanessa VanDyke click here. For more information about bullying click here. Does the story behind the brand matter to consumers? Would you try something for a good purpose? It matters to me and I'm proud to support this brand of hair care products!
