Monday, July 19, 2010

UPDATE: M.A.C. Rodarte Collection Controversy

Eerie campaign shot for Rodarte's M.A.C. Collection
Photo courtesy of Stylelist.com

UPDATE: M.A.C. will be donating $100 000 to a non-profit organization in Juarez and will be changing the product names. It's clear the beauty blogging community has a voice. We love beauty but we will never stand for exploitation or discrimination all in the name to be edgy or to make a fast buck.

Has M.A.C. done enough? If the Rodarte collection was made to bring awareness of Juarez and to donate proceeds to Juarez charities from the get-go there would be no controversy. The apologies and efforts seem too after-the-fact. As someone commented on this post, the upside is that we are all aware of the help that Juarez needs. Has Rodarte done enough? I don't think so. Why aren't they offering to give a portion of their clothing sales to a Juarez charity?

What I do commend M.A.C. for is that they are not too big of a company to listen to their consumers. If you do plan to buy from the Rodarte collection, at least you'll know part of the proceeds are going to help the women of Juarez. Another reader left a comment saying she'd rather donate her money directly to a charity. I agree. If you're looking to donate visit this site for a list of charities in Juarez:
http://www.charity-charities.org/Mexico-charities/Juarez.html

Original Post: 

There has been much buzz over the controversy of M.A.C.'s  Rodarte collection and the designer's questionable inspiration of a little town in Mexico called Juarez. The history of Juarez was news to me and  I was unfamiliar with the background of the town until I read it on Vex in The City. I had heard about the collaboration between M.A.C. and the Rodarte sister designers, Laura and Kate Mullevy, launching this Fall but didn't clue into the controversy that surrounds it. 

Juarez, known as a factory town in Mexico, is notorious for the disappearance of hundreds of women between the ages of 12 and 22 who have been raped and murdered on their way to work, with little help from the police leaving most cases unsolved. It's disturbing and horrific, leaving me more sad than inspired. 

It's difficult to look at this campaign shot of a ghostly model who is rail thin, and with eyes that stare back at you with nothing but emptiness. I can't look at her without getting goose bumps and not in the good way. Seeing this picture does not make me want to run out and buy the collection. And after reading some of the names of the products, all I could think was "Really??". No, I will not be swiping on my shadow called "Sleepwalker" only to be reminded of the women and children who were raped and murdered for this "inspiration".

Either M.A.C. and the Rodarte designers are absolutely insensitive or this is all apart of a brilliant marketing plan to make M.A.C. look like heroes, making this a sell-out collection. Style List almost seems to sugar coat the situation praising M.A.C. for issuing a statement saying a portion of the proceeds from the collection will go to those in need in Juarez. Fabulous, now that sh*t has hit the fan. Was the real purpose of the collection to recognize the hardships of these women and to be inspire us M.A.C. addicts to help? Really. I think these women have been exploited enough. Sometimes bad publicity is just bad publicity.

For all you die-hard M.A.C. fans, how do you feel about the Rodarte collection? Will the Juarez controversy deter you from buying this collection? Or do you love M.A.C. so much you've just got to have it? To read Vex in The City's insightful post click here. To read more from Style List click here.


11 comments:

dani@callitbeauty said...

i'm not a die-hard mac fan, but i'm definitely going to pass on this one. a lot of people say, "who cares? it's just makeup." but it isn't JUST makeup when you capitalize on other people's horrific realities.

are people going to say "who cares? it's just makeup" if mac releases a 9/11 inspired collection? or how about an eyeshadow called "auschwitz?" or a lipstick called "blood diamond?"

just because the situation in juarez isn't much talked about, doesn't make it less important. if anything good has come out of this hoopla, it's that more people are now informed of the women of juarez. but it doesn't take away from the fact that this collection was done in BAD FORM.

and i agree, the statement mac made reeks of "after-thought." they should've thought of this in the first place!

anyway, sorry for the rant. thanks for your thoughts. :)

-dani
http://callitbeauty.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

I love M.A.C but I simply do not love them enough as to skip the controversy. I find this campaign of a very bad taste and I have decided not to buy anything from it unless all the profits got to the Juarez cause.
I agree with you.
I also wrote about this in Spanish in my blog.
X

Anonymous said...

As a person who has been to an impoverished place before I understand the inspiration, when you see a place you are overwhelmed by sadness but in some way see the beauty of the women and how with fear of their lives continue to live on. I believe MAC should have launched the campaign with the intention to use them proceeds to help the women in Juarez, but I do believe that the names, (and the clothes from rodarte) will become an awareness raiser you yourself (and I as well) had not heard of Juarez until the MAC controversy was raised, already we are becoming more aware.

Michelle said...

Long story short, I was beyond appalled. Even though part of the proceeds are going towards aid (now that MAC has seen how appalled so many people are about this), I would still rather take the money I was going to spend and just give it straight to a women's organization.

Make-up Junkie said...

@dani - I absolutely agree with you! No need to apologize for the rant - I think us beauty bloggers have been ranting all week about this! LOL Like you said, at least we're more aware of the situation in Juarez - the only good that came out of the controversy

Make-up Junkie said...

@Catanya - Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'm not sure if the $100K donation is in addition to a portion of the proceeds for every product sold or not. I hope so!

Make-up Junkie said...

@Anonymous - Thank you for your statement. I can agree that there is beauty in the strength of these women who must live and work and fear for there lives everyday. I also agree that if the intentions to improve conditions and awareness in Juarez were announced upfront then this collection would be more accepted. But their efforts are too after the fact.

Make-up Junkie said...

@Michelle - I absolutely agree on giving your money directly to a women's organization! Thanks for sharing!

Anita said...

I am so upset by this. I cannot believe MAC allowed this to happen.

There is a petition that can be signed for those of you interest.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/macrodarte/

Make-up Junkie said...

Hey Anita!
Thanks for sending the link for the petition! xo

The Kiara Files said...

For some reason I dont think people would have reacted the same if they said that the proceeds will go to the charity in the first place they would just be like oh thats nice buy it the not think anything of it again. I think it take controversy for people to really look at something