Three Years Since #BlackoutTuesday ◼️🫶
KOSE Corp and Tarte Cosmetics are quiet, but one person isn't.
My last Tarte post….ever?
Silence leaves you with more questions than answers, doesn’t it?
The true anniversary of 2020’s #BlackoutTuesday would be this Friday, June 2. But for the sake of relevance, were moving it up to today, the first true Tuesday following the May 25 anniversary of the murder of George Floyd.
You see, my posts about Tarte and the brand’s pledge failures weren’t random. They could’ve been considered ..warnings?…tip offs? I made those videos all while knowing that within three weeks, within two weeks, within one week we were counting down to crucial anniversaries and brand milestones that should’ve been loudly on their comms radar.
At a certain point, I did start to feel like I was crazy. They’ve got to have this on their radar, right?
I even let myself have a #delulu moment, attributing the brand’s silence to being part of a ‘less talking, more doing’ strategy where some grand accountability plan would have its reveal today.
@ALL: At this moment please play the audio below:
Listen, we all know that would’ve never happened. But as a marketing girl you have to understand that brand flops and missed opportunities just simply break my heart.
After all, how long would it have taken Tarte to share the following today:
“As we promised, we’ve donated over XXX to the NAACP and the following black empowerment initiatives Name 1, Name 2, and Name 3 over the last three years. We’ve increased our Black corporate representation by TK% and our BIPOC by TK% over the last three years. We had 15 employees contribute to our employee match efforts, and have matched it 100% for a total of $XXX.
I clocked myself reading that and it took me 13.25 seconds.
I’m sure Tarte and CEO Maureen Kelly could’ve even found a faster way to share these updates. Updating their recently revived BLM page or posting a statement on Instagram, the home of their initial pledge, wouldn’t have even required any camera time from the brand’s CEO.
Though we all know this isn’t about time management issues.
In a March interview with The Cut, Kelly goes into great detail about how she balances both her work and family commitments while still making time for TikTok. She proudly talks about her Heart To Tarte foundation and active charity work.
She also talks about how she usually, in the fantasy bubble she’s created for herself, successfully deals with backlash:
“Let me take a step back and say there have definitely been times in our history where we’ve made mistakes. For me, you know, the biggest thing is owning it, acknowledging it, apologizing, and trying to do better.”
She also talks about curating her ‘all female’ C-Suite.
So, we know it’s possible for her to think, speak, and act on equity and accountability.
Then why the silence and inaction around blackness?
Now as you know, all of my emails to KOSE Corporation, Tarte Cosmetics parent company, for data around the 2020 pledges have gone unanswered. Just like the reporter I talked to earlier this month, who was investigating the brand, and similarly stonewalled, predicted they would.
I don’t believe the emails, the videos, and the posts about Tarte are simply being ignored. I think they’re read, received, forwarded, and whispered about, but all discussions, in the end, settle back to the master plan — everybody keep quiet.
However, one person hasn’t.