Clicks' hair ad called black hair 'dull' — protests shut 400+ stores in a day

Clicks, South Africa's biggest pharmacy, health and beauty retailer with more than 500 branches, carried the TRESemmé hair product advertisements on its website.

The ads sat on Clicks' website until the backlash. Dozens of EFF activists picketed stores across the country, forcing closures. Clicks pulled the ads, apologised publicly and suspended the 'negligent employees' held responsible; TRESemmé owner Unilever also issued an apology.

Protests forced more than 400 of Clicks' 500+ stores to close on the Monday after the ads spread. Both brands apologised and staff were suspended, turning website copy into a national flashpoint over racist framing in hair marketing.

In September 2020, South Africa's biggest pharmacy chain Clicks was forced to close more than 400 of its 500+ stores after activists from the radical leftwing Economic Freedom Fighters picketed branches across the country. The trigger: 'racist' hair advertisements posted on the retailer's own website which described black hair as 'dull' and white hair as 'normal'.

Clicks pulled the advertisements and apologised, suspending the 'negligent employees' held responsible for the content, which featured TRESemmé, the shampoo maker owned by Dutch consumer-products giant Unilever. TRESemmé also issued an apology. Dozens of EFF activists picketed Clicks stores nationwide, forcing the closures.

The speed and scale of the response — hundreds of stores dark in a single day over website copy — made the episode one of the sharpest advertising backlashes in South African retail, and it turned a product listing into a national conversation about how black hair is described and marketed.

The most expensive copy failure in South African retail: the words 'normal' versus 'dull' shut hundreds of stores.

The ads never bought a single media slot — the damage came from content sitting on the retailer's own website.

The consequence chain is complete and sourced: what ran, who was held responsible, how the brands and the protestors responded.

Product copy is brand advertising: a routine listing description can shut 400 stores in a day — someone has to read what the site actually says before it goes live.

Clicks removed the ads, apologised and suspended the employees held responsible; TRESemmé's owner Unilever also apologised. More than 400 stores had already been shut by the protests. The source reports nothing further.