"Anne Frank Is Not A Holocaust Blogger": The Product That Caused The Storm | Israel today

"Dead Jews are not a marketing opportunity": A blush sold in Hong Kong and named after Anne Frank is causing scandal across the network

Black in the eyes:

A makeup brand in Hong Kong found itself in the headlines after a makeup line he put out for his year celebrations sparked a lot of outrage on the net.

The product at the center of the scandal is a liquid blush named Dream Like Anne that was offered alongside four other blushes, all as a tribute to powerful women, including "The Ray of Rosalind" named after the chemist Rosalind Franklin, "Viva La Frida," named after the painter Frida Kahlo, "In Woolf's Words," named after the writer Virginia Woolf and Lift Like Melinda, named after Melinda Gates, Bill Gates' wife.

The blush line was created to celebrate a year since the establishment of the Hong Kong-based fashion brand Woke Up Like This.

Naming a shade of blush after Anne Frank, who was a victim of genocide is revolting.

Dead Jews are not a marketing opportunity.

@timeouthk, shame on you for not noticing and for promoting this disrespect.

pic.twitter.com/bbPcjiLcc1

- Ben M. Freeman (@BenMFreeman) September 16, 2020

The blush scandal in Frank's name arose after an article about the brand was published in Time Out magazine in Hong Kong, stating that makeup was meant to promote Sexual Health Awareness Month and this was done by the choice of inspiring women as names for the new products.

The hope, it was written, was that choosing them would inspire the company's customers to live out their dreams and shatter the gender barriers that stand between them.

The company's intent may have been good, but the use of Frank's name for commercial promotion managed to provoke much outrage and soon the network was flooded with a large number of angry tweets.

"Calling the shade of blush after Anne Frank who was a victim of genocide is repulsive," tweeted Jewish writer Ben Freeman.

"Dead Jews are not a marketing opportunity. Time Out Hong Kong Shame on you for not noticing this and promoting this disrespect."

"What the hell," journalist Claire Coleman also tweeted.

"I'm just amazed that at no point in the creative process did any of the brand's staff or any of the hundreds of other people involved in the process stand up and say it was just inappropriate."

Other surfers were outraged that Frank was described in the article as someone who wrote a diary (in the same way as a blogger today) and not as a victim of the Nazis.

"Anne Frank is not a Holocaust blogger," they wrote.

"She did not document her life for others. Her goal was not to make money from the fact that she was persecuted and murdered," added actress Samantha Acampora.

"The other names are shocking, too. Virginia Woolf committed suicide," she added, but to call the blush after Anne Frank is simply offensive. "

Realizing the intensity of the attack provoked by the publication of the article, Time Out Hong Kong removed it and rushed to publish an apology: "We are deeply sorry for the insensitivity caused by the product coverage in the article published here," the apology read.

"We are committed to empowering and empowering people of all races, religions, sexual orientations and backgrounds. This article has not met the standards of respect and sensitivity we expect in product coverage."

The company that understood the great image damage caused to it also expressed regret over the problematic marketing decision and in addition to the apology announced that it was removing the problematic blush from the line.

"We are very Egyptian that our gesture to Anne Frank in this way caused this to seem hurtful and perceived as disrespectful. Our intention was the opposite, and was meant to bring positive energy and provide some points of light in these difficult times of the plague. We apologize from the bottom of our hearts for the wrong way. The product from our site immediately. "

Indeed, following the scandal, the company removed the blush in Frank's name from the site, leaving the other four blushes still offered for sale for $ 298.