M·A·C Halts Rodarte Line of Gruesomely Named Cosmetics

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Image by © Adrianna Williams/Corbis

Naming make-up after a town notorious for murder: how did this not seem like a bad idea right from the start?

People reacted with anger when cosmetics company M·A·C announced a limited-time collaboration line with Rodarte that was inspired by a road trip the designers took through the desert. Why anger? Because the cosmetics in the line featured names like “Juárez” and “Ghost Town” and some of the products looked disturbingly like blood.

Remember, Juárez is a Mexican factory town known for violence, where hundreds of women have been abducted, raped and murdered. Which doesn’t exactly make you think of lipstick and nail polish, does it?

The backlash against M·A·C caused them to announce they were changing the names of some of the products. They then announced that they were going to donate proceeds from the line to groups that work to help the women and children of Juárez. Which apparently was still not enough to calm the anger; M·A·C has now announced that they are cancelling the line once and for all, but are still planning on donating money to the organizations.

The statement on M·A·C’s Facebook page reads, “M·A·C and Rodarte are deeply and sincerely sorry and we apologize to everyone we offended. We have listened very closely to the feedback of concerned global citizens. We are doing our very best to right this wrong.”

Though, the silver lining of M·A·C’s PR-nightmare is that perhaps a little more awareness of the Juárez tragedy will be raised.