When Pamela Rhett, Procter & Gamble’s assistant brand manager of multicultural marketing, was sitting at the roundtable with the brand team three years ago, she never would have imagined that a program that focuses on African American women would touch and inspire so many black women who felt under served and misrepresented by the mainstream media. “We brainstormed about what our platform [would be] to celebrate and promote being proud to be black,” Rhett shares about the development of the annual My Black Is Beautiful Live event, which travels to various cities around the country. “Black is beautiful kept rising to the top [of the list] as one of the last rallying cries in the black community to celebrate black beauty.”
The brand team conducted some research in partnership with Essence magazine. The survey revealed that 71% of African American women felt they were overlooked by the beauty brands. “When you think about black beauty and the personalization of beauty that really stems from the fact that there are not a lot of examples, which forces us to define beauty for ourselves, [so] My Black is Beautiful was born,” offers Rhett.
Fast forward three years later and the My Black is Beautiful Live event is the basis for the second season of the eponymous show, which airs Sundays at 1 p.m. on BET. Segments of the six, half-hour shows were taped on location in Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles during the 2010 My Black is Beautiful campaign. Attendees were treated to makeovers, seminars, panel discussions and contests that provided an opportunity to express “Why My Black is Beautiful.”
The TV show is hosted by actress Tasha Smith, singer Leela James, actress/comedienne Kim Coles and TV personality Aleesha Renee. It presents a national forum for black women to talk about their personal beauty, health and quality of life issue as well as provide fitness, health and wellness tips, fashion and pop culture trends. —yvette caslin
Participating partners include Crest® Pro-Health™, Pantene Pro-V® Relaxed & Natural, CoverGirl® Queen Collection, Olay® Definity, Always® and Tampax® and Beautiful Collection®. For more information about the My Black Is Beautiful campaign, visit www.myblackisbeautiful.com. Join their Facebook fan page or follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MBIBMovement.
