Over the years, brands have been criticized for their lack of diversity and inclusivity, especially when it comes to skin tone. For example, major beauty brands continue to lack a diverse range of foundation and concealer shades, favoring lighter skin tones over darker tones. Many are making a greater conscious effort to increase their shade ranges, but it’s still been a long journey for many major brands.
It’s taken nearly 100 years, but Band-Aid is joining others and finally making bandages for deeper skin tones.
In a recent Instagram post, Band-Aid announced that they would finally be including light, medium, and deep shades of Black and Brown skin tones.
Their announcement comes on the heels of global Black Lives Matter protests that were reignited after George Floyd’s death.
“We hear you. We see you. We’re listening to you,” Band-Aid wrote in the caption .
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“We stand in solidarity with our Black colleagues, collaborators and community in the fight against racism, violence and injustice. We are committed to taking actions to create tangible change for the Black community.”
The post continued, “We are committed to launching a range of bandages in light, medium and deep shades of Brown and Black skin tones that embrace the beauty of diverse skin. We are dedicated to inclusivity and providing the best healing solutions, better representing you.”
It’s taken 100 years for Band-Aid to diversify the range of their “flesh-colored” bandages.
Other vintage Band-Aid ads specifically called attention to the bandages’ color, using descriptors like “tone-neutral” and “flesh color,” which, as we know, means something very different depending on one’s skin tone.
In response to Band-Aids lack of urgency, other inclusive brands of bandages were created, like Ebon-Aide and Tru-Colour.
While it may not seem a big deal to lighter skin-toned folks, a 45-year-old man was nearly brought to tears after wearing one of Tru-Colour’s bandages, finally being able to wear a bandage in his skin tone after all these years.
There’s no official date on when Band-Aid’s new shades will be released, but at least they are finally acknowledging the power they have in shaping society.
Be on the lookout!
