Huda Beauty's 'Kalamantina' campaign sparks outrage for being ‘tone-deaf’ to Gaza's crisis

Cosmetic brand ‘Huda Beauty’ and its founder Huda Kattan have come under fire for the promotion campaign of their latest product ‘Kalamantina’ lip oil, in reference to Palestinian clementine oranges. Critics have dubbed the video and pictures created for its promotion as “tone-deaf” and “insensitive”.

Huda Beauty launched the lip oil in collaboration with Palestinian singer Saint Levant, original name Marwan, after the singer’s track released earlier this year. The brand released a footage showing Huda and Saint Levant dancing to the track “Kalamantina”. They also posed together next to a vintage car overflowing with clementines.

In another shot, they held clementines labeled with fruit stickers that read, “Grown by Huda n’ Saint Levant.”

However, the image of clementines triggered a controversy after Huda was criticised for being insensitive to the current starvation in Gaza. Pulitzer Prize winner Abu Toha, whose New Yorker essay series chronicling his life during the war and eventual evacuation from Gaza, was among those who criticised Huda for the post. “I truly do not understand how you are publishing this love song showing lots of clementines when my people of Gaza are killed while trying to get food,” Abu Toha wrote. “Do you really care about Gaza? You share this video when 102 people were killed today, including a cousin of mine, while seeking food?” in Gaza.

The comments below the post also criticised the brand for its poor concept. One user said it was “heartless to flex piles of goods” when starvation was happening in Gaza. “I wish those kids could have these fruits,” the user said.

One person commented that the campaign was tasteless, for “having a photo op with this much fruit while Palestinians in Gaza are starving”.

Another user was a bit sympathetic. “As an art director, I think the concept could have been handled better than using tons of fruit—even if it’s fake—for a cause that is literally about the lack of food,” one commenter wrote.

Soon after, Huda announced that it will donate 100 per cent of sales from its recent Kalamantina collaboration to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), in support of life-saving medical work in Gaza. Huda decided to redirect the amount for medical aid, after initially announcing that the proceeds would go to organisations that support Palestinian agriculture and cultural preservation.

 

 

Middle East