Mielle Organics is facing backlash after a recent advertisement for its Rosemary Mint collection prompted accusations that the brand was sending a negative message about tightly textured Black hair.
The post encouraged customers to “swipe for the before after” while promoting the Rosemary Mint line as part of a routine for “stronger-feeling, healthy-looking hair.”
For some consumers, the problem was not the product itself. It was the message they felt the imagery sent about natural Black hair.
The ad featured a Black woman with a large, less-defined Afro labeled “weak & dull.”
The accompanying “after” image showed her hair looking more defined, elongated and shiny beneath the words “shiny & strong.”
Content creator Kiandria criticized the brand on Threads.
“They are buying our brands and using them to sell us anti-blackness,” she wrote, tagging Mielle and calling the advertisement “UNACCEPTABLE.”
Other reactions were blunt. “IKYFL,” one person wrote.
Another commenter, in a post that was later deleted, said, “ain’t no way.”
View on Threads
One critic also questioned the company’s ownership and its relationship with Procter & Gamble.
“Naw naw naw @mielleorganics I KNOW y’all didn’t think you could delete faster than I screenshot. I SEENT IT! @proctorgamble This NON MELANATED OWNED company has some explaining to do! Come on mielle and proctorgamble, I promise the ladies will be patient,” the commenter wrote.
The same person continued criticizing Mielle after the company issued an apology. They questioned how the advertisement could have been published if it had already been rejected during the brand’s review process.
“So if it was rejected but still posted that means your team didn’t care about the rejection, the reason for the rejection, nor the consequences of posting it,” the commenter wrote. They also questioned whether the incident pointed to a larger workplace culture issue.
A separate commenter pushed back against the suggestion that the “weak and dull” side was inherently negative.
“Give me ‘Weak and Dull’ any day!!! If I decide not to loc my hair again. I need my sh-t to bounce like dancing machine MJ when I randomly cut a rug,” one person expressed.
Mielle responded by acknowledging the criticism and apologizing for the post.
“We hear you, and we agree. This wasn’t okay,” the company said.
View on Threads
Mielle explained that the content had been rejected during its internal review but was published anyway. The company said it removed the post and planned to strengthen its review procedures.
The apology did little to quiet the backlash.
One commenter argued that publishing rejected material could not simply be dismissed as an accident.
“So it got rejected but STILL ‘made its way live?’ That wasn’t a mistake – that was a CHOICE!” the person wrote. They added that Black consumers should not have to “call you in” over advertising they viewed as disrespectful, warning that the controversy had cost the company customers.
The controversy places Mielle in the middle of a familiar debate surrounding Black beauty marketing: how companies portray natural hair and whether certain textures or styles are presented as problems that need to be fixed.
For critics, the issue was not simply an unfortunate choice of words. They saw the “before” and “after” images as reinforcing the idea that tightly coiled, less-defined hair needs to be transformed before it can be considered healthy or beautiful.
Mielle’s response acknowledged the concern, but the reaction online suggests some consumers want more than an apology.
ABS has reached out to Mielle for a statement, but has yet to receive a response.
