Urban Decay’s recently released line of eyeliners has encountered an immense amount of negative feedback following the publication of their ad Thursday morning in the UK. The ad featured the inside of a woman’s wrist with samples of the various colors lining the length of the forearm. The line’s name Razor Sharp was scrawled across the top of the ad.
Unfortunately, Urban Decay marketers failed to notice the resemblance of the ad to self-harm propaganda before the release. Many individuals took to Twitter after the release and offered rather harsh words and negative opinions about the make-up company. The company was accused multiple times of glorifying and even promoting self-harm through their ad. However, others used Twitter as a means to defend the popular company. Many self-harm victims stood up for UD, stating that they understood the inside of the wrist was a common place to test many make-up products because it is the most natural skin color on an individual.
Although UD received a large amount of backlash, they refused to remove their ad from the Internet. They argued that the removal of the ad meant they were admitting to advocating self-harm. Because it has been over a week since the release and uproar, much of the controversy surrounding the line has died down, but rest assured that UD will be proofing their ads three or four times before their release in order to prevent any more customer loss.