Courtesy of theLuvs:

MICA PARIS - MICA PARIS: 'BEYONCE ADVERT IS INSULT'

British singer MICA PARIS has slammed bosses at cosmetic giants L'Oreal for "insulting black women" with a new print advertisement.
Company executives came under fire earlier this month (09Aug08) for apparently using technology to make spokesmodel Beyonce Knowles' skin lighter in a new ad campaign. And Paris has accused L'Oreal heads of insulting the black community.

She says, "What is truly disturbing about the image of Beyonce is that L'Oreal has taken one of the most talented and beautiful black women in the world, and, in my view, has deliberately lightened her colour and hair in order to sell a beauty product.

"This has to be the ultimate insult to every black woman out there - Beyonce included. It is suggesting that in order to be beautiful and appealing, she needs to be white."

Mica, Mica, Mica
We ALL know she's black Don't worry about it.

Now get back to your job

beyonce's black?!

Marrk said:

She used to be, at least

...before the PvHiOtTiOlSiHgOoP




.
[Edited 8/19/08 4:07am]

Harlepolis said:

Mica Paris?

What the hell has she done that's so relevant as of late? Folks need to get their panties out of a wad and leave Beyonce the hell alone! I have never seen one artist get hated on as much as this young lady!

There is nothing wrong with that damn ad! LETITGO!

poeticrockstar said:

Well Mica is a TV presenter in the UK these days, whether she's relevant to you or not doesn't make her wrong, cause she's dead on with her comment.

The fact Beyonce surely must have had some say in approving this ad says it all. I don't need to spell it out.

It's Beyonce's L'Oreal shampoo ads that baffle me. Have we ever even seen Beyonce's real hair?

poeticrockstar said:

If you read her statement she's not slamming Beyonce, in fact she compliments her. She criticizes L'oreal which regardless of how "relevant" she may or may not be she's entirely within her rights to do. It's all about perspective, and if you're not a black woman you may not understand or be able to empathize with why this IS offensive and disappointing.

Love Mica. She’s clearly criticizing L’Oreal, not the almighty Bey.

SCNDLS said:

PANDURITO said:

As ghetto as she is, she'll never abandon being black. Just wait until her next album drops, you'll hear more ebonics than you will care to hear in a 40 minute listening session (like the prior projects).

daPrettyman said:

So speaking ebonics makes ya black??? Thanks for the update.
[Edited 8/19/08 8:39am]

SCNDLS said:

No....I'm just saying she's very well verse in the language of ebonics.

When I listened to B'Day, I thought it was a good album (but rushed). Then I heard "Irreplacable" and I was very ticked that the song was not grammatically correct. "Because you was untrue" could have easily been "Because you were untrue"
[Edited 8/19/08 8:46am]

Mica is probably sensitive to this because the marketplace loves "Mulatto Princesses". This prejudice probably hurt her career.

For years.. Halle Berry was like the only black actress working in major films in Hollyweird...and she is a Mulatto.

It's like:

Hollywierd: "If we have to be fair, let's not promote someone so...dark.."

"She's close to the color that we want, or to be accepted, so we'll just lighten a bit..."

Who cares about Make-up... Folks need to do some research to find what it is made of, and why women wore it to begin with... I won't say more here..lol.



I loved Mica's voice... I love all of The Brit Sisters' voices:

Mica Paris
Jane Eugene (Loose Ends)
Caron Wheeler (Soul II Soul)


It's almost as if they are related. Smooth vocals without all of "Churchiness/Overdone-adlibbing" of the American singers.

Smooth, soft, understated... No forced-screaming vocals. No false power.
..and within proper vocal range.
[Edited 8/20/08 3:15am]

daPrettyman said:

So, are a lot of white suburban kids. And? What does that have to do with being black?

Linn4days said:

Mulatto??? Let me get up outta here.

SCNDLS said:

I did not see it as a negative tem, but if it is seen that way.. I will change it. Maybe, it's the wrong term for someone with 1st generation mixed heritage.

Beyonce is not, but they may have attempted to lighten her to fit the desired image.

It is not the fault of Halle or Beyonce. Doors open for a reason. They just walked through like anyone else would..
[Edited 8/19/08 9:02am]

SCNDLS said:

Don't turn this in to a P&R thing. I just spoke my opinion.
Please leave it at that. No offense....I still love B.

(To get back on topic), I don't think that the ads were offensive nor do I think that Loreal tried to make her "white" or "lighter" in the ads ad many are proclaiming. We all know B is light-skinned and when you are in lighting situations for photoshoots, its easy to make anyone look lighter than they actually are.

I don't think B is trying to portray anything other than a positive image for black women, I just think she could use a bit more polishing in the speech department. If she were to grammatically speak/write properly, she would get so much further in her career (especially in the acting department). I honestly feel that B doesn't get the type of roles she wants because of her grammar and speech. She was very upset about not winning any major awards for Dreamgirls. She didn't win because she still sounds like she's from the 5th Ward in H-town.

She's improved drastically from the time I met her when she was 16, but she is still horrible with her grammar skills. She's still horrible in interviews (especially with the mainstream media). She's been through training with professionals on acting and interviewing, but still falls short. Everything she says in interviews is very calculated and (sound) pre-written. She would never be able to do like a Sheryl Lee Ralph or Angela Bassett in an interview. Those women keep it real, yet still know how to project professionalism and etiquette in an interview. Notice, you'll never see B do many sit down interviews with any media outlets. If they do, the segments are extremely short.

Also, recall when DC did their last project and they were doing press for it, the interviewers would concentrate on B, but she would pass it off to Kelly or Michelle....that's because they were better at interviewing than she was.

Beyonce considers herself Creole

Harlepolis said:

I think her mother is, but B definitely isn't. Matthew is about my color and has no French heritage.

poeticrockstar said:

So, a person has to do something of "relevance" in order to make social commentary? Wow, that sure makes sense.

And I don't see how ANYONE can sit here and say NOTHING is wrong with that ad unless they have a whole different view of the world.

daPrettyman said:

Yeah, like Beyonce's the ONLY person who has grammatical errors in her verses! And - Like having grammatical errors in your verses is EXCLUSIVE to being Black. Yeah, THAT makes a ton of fucking sense.

It is disturbing when you see nowadays folks(not kids, mind you) that think a straight sentence is "acting white"

I use ebonics just like the next young female but its not a condition I MUST live in Sometimes

L'Oreal tried to appeal to black consumers while not offending its "majority" base and wound up with this.

But does black-generated/targeted media (television, music, videos, mags, et al.) send some of the same messages?

If you don't like the ad DON'T BUY L'OREAL

Simple.

And, Ms. Paris, you were expecting maybe Hillary Clinton? Welcome to Corporatism, me and you, survivin' in the...well, you know.

mynameisnotsusan said:

Exactly - put your money where your mouth is.

They're just trying to match her skin color to her music, that's all.

namepeace said:

Hell yes!

Its subtler now,,,but it doesn't take somebody to be sharp to know what time it is.

There's absloutly NO dark skinned women in the hit charts,,,,and it won't be enough, soon they'll get rid of the red-toned women and there'll be nobody but white women singing RnB.