The Ed.
Well-Known Member
I know that everyone was raging over this yesterday and trust me, there was nothing I wanted to do more than post a thought-provoking and chatter-inspiring post on the advert that has got everyone chatting. Of course, my internet service provider wasn't playing along so, apologies for the delay. Here it is.
You'll notice, first of all, that I've posted the advert in full. In other words, the black and the white version which are supposed to go next to each other. It's also worth knowing it's the same model in both pictures. Those lambasting Illamasqua for the ad are tending to just post the 'black' half. In my opinion, this takes it out of context somewhat...so I just thought I'd mention that.
Words such as 'blackfaced', 'racist' and 'minstrels' have been flying around the cyber highway with many (in fact, the majority) outraged. TheGloss.com say, "Presumably, this was vetted by no-one before landing on Facebook," while controversial make up artist Alex Box, responsible for the look, is defended by Illamasqua in their official statement on Facebook:
"We thank and acknowledge your comments regarding the above image. Obviously it was never our intention to cause offence; Illamasqua has always celebrated the right to self-expression and we continually push creative and artistic boundaries, priding ourselves on working with models of many ethnic backgrounds to reinforce this point."
"Alex Box, Illamasqua's Creative Director, has emphasised that this campaign is about colour ON the skin, not colour OF the skin, depicting polarity between the two images (both images are the same model) not race."
For my money (whatever that's worth) I think creatively this is a pretty amazing piece of advertising and, I can buy into the idea that this is about "the colour ON the skin, not the colour OF the skin." I think that the choice of costume - the top hat, the bow tie - is an unfortunate (and hopefully, unintentional) reference to those minstrel shows of the past but no one can deny that visually, it's impressive.
If you know anything about Illamasqua as a company, you'll know that they are about pushing creative boundaries, being inventive and as a company, they are coloured in class and coolness. They are ethical, cruelty-free and an intentionally racist advert simply doesn't sound like them. However, there's no doubt that many people are offended by it...does that mean they shouldn't do it? Or, perhaps it means that they should?
Who knows...I await your geeky-chatter with interest.
Until then...geek on!
The Ed.
You'll notice, first of all, that I've posted the advert in full. In other words, the black and the white version which are supposed to go next to each other. It's also worth knowing it's the same model in both pictures. Those lambasting Illamasqua for the ad are tending to just post the 'black' half. In my opinion, this takes it out of context somewhat...so I just thought I'd mention that.
Words such as 'blackfaced', 'racist' and 'minstrels' have been flying around the cyber highway with many (in fact, the majority) outraged. TheGloss.com say, "Presumably, this was vetted by no-one before landing on Facebook," while controversial make up artist Alex Box, responsible for the look, is defended by Illamasqua in their official statement on Facebook:
"We thank and acknowledge your comments regarding the above image. Obviously it was never our intention to cause offence; Illamasqua has always celebrated the right to self-expression and we continually push creative and artistic boundaries, priding ourselves on working with models of many ethnic backgrounds to reinforce this point."
"Alex Box, Illamasqua's Creative Director, has emphasised that this campaign is about colour ON the skin, not colour OF the skin, depicting polarity between the two images (both images are the same model) not race."
For my money (whatever that's worth) I think creatively this is a pretty amazing piece of advertising and, I can buy into the idea that this is about "the colour ON the skin, not the colour OF the skin." I think that the choice of costume - the top hat, the bow tie - is an unfortunate (and hopefully, unintentional) reference to those minstrel shows of the past but no one can deny that visually, it's impressive.
If you know anything about Illamasqua as a company, you'll know that they are about pushing creative boundaries, being inventive and as a company, they are coloured in class and coolness. They are ethical, cruelty-free and an intentionally racist advert simply doesn't sound like them. However, there's no doubt that many people are offended by it...does that mean they shouldn't do it? Or, perhaps it means that they should?
Who knows...I await your geeky-chatter with interest.
Until then...geek on!
The Ed.
