Advertising, Marketing & Stereotypes

"The U.S. cosmetics company MAC, owned by Estee Lauder, and fashion house Rodarte have apologized for a controversial make-up line with product names such as "Quinceanera," "Ghost Town," "Factory," and "Juarez," making reference to the border city wracked by ongoing drug-related violence and a wave of killings of women.

The MAC make-up line of lipsticks and nail polishes was set for launch this fall. It was created in collaboration with Rodarte, founded by sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy, who are part Mexican and have said their recent clothing collection was inspired by Ciudad Juarez. MAC Cosmetics and Rodarte came under criticism in recent weeks for names in their collaborative make-up line. One lifestyle blog called it "horribly wrong" and "tasteless," noting that the product line refers to the Juarez maquiladora factories where women work for meager pay.

"Juarez is an impoverished Mexican factory town notorious for the number of women between the ages of 12 and 22 who have been raped and murdered with little or no response from police," said The Frisky.

Writer Sarah Menkedick, who lives in Mexico, made this critique: "In a sweep of total insouciance, for chic U.S. women, 'Factory' is an abstract consumable concept, a shade of mint frost, whereas for Mexican women in maquiladoras, it's a sweaty, oppressive place where they're frequently harassed, threatened, raped, and killed."

Ads for menstrual products remain conspicuously euphemistic, typically featuring women practicing yoga in white spandex, riding white horses along the beach, or airborne in cheerleader outfits.

“Fem-care advertising is so sterilized and so removed from what a period is,” said Elissa Stein, co-author (with Susan Kim) of the book “Flow: The Cultural Story of Menstruation.” “You never see a bathroom, you never see a woman using a product. They never show someone having cramps or her face breaking out or tearful — it’s always happy, playful, sporty women.”