Black-owned hair care brand Mielle Organics announced Wednesday that it has joined forces with P&G Beauty, to expand the company and “break the glass ceiling”.
According to NBC News, they will become part of a major conglomerate that owns some of the biggest personal care brands in the world, including Always and Olay.
P&G Beauty will work with Mielle Organics to expand access to the brand in Black communities and fund research and innovation in hair care for underserved communities, Lela Coffey, vice president of P&G’s multicultural hair business, said in a statement.
Mielle co-founder Monique Rodriguez said of the partnership, “I am thrilled that we will make an even greater impact in how we give back to the community.”
On Instagram the brand wrote:
We are so excited to tell ya’ll Mielle has joined P&G Beauty in another historic boss move for black-founded, women-led companies.
Monique’s goal has always been global expansion so Mielle can better serve our mavens and mavericks around the world.
The P&G family is helping her to achieve this goal.
“P&G Beauty is a best-in-class organization, and we are excited that this partnership will bring additional resources so that Mielle can continue to serve our incredible customers with rapid innovation and greater reach. Melvin and I will continue to lead Mielle with a focus on excellence, customer commitment and integrity that have been the core of our brand since day one nearly nine years ago.”
Both P&G and Monique & Melvin have each committed $10 million to Mielle Cares, a non-profit aimed at providing resources and support to advance education and economic opportunities in Black and Brown communities.
Listen below:
Twitter reactions:
Bro mielle partnered with P&G omfg it’s truly OVER pic.twitter.com/QIOPIBjsAx
— BigBlackBitchEnergy🇹🇹🇮🇳 (@longfacedshawty) January 11, 2023
and
So… Procter & Gamble (P&G Beauty) just announced it bought Mielle Organics… which is what Black women said was happening or would happen.
Listen. To. Black. Women. https://t.co/hdJwQLH02i
— Uju Anya (@UjuAnya) January 11, 2023
and
When I found out P&G acquired Mielle pic.twitter.com/DZ5bhabvnN
— rosechocglam (@rosechocglam) January 11, 2023
and
Mielle Organics just got bought by P&G Beauty. Funny given the recent drama on here about the hair oil formula
— professional internet user (@quidditch424) January 11, 2023
and
Mielle being acquired by P&G is expected. But she said it’s to increase availability and that formulas will not change.
Hmmm. Ok
— Jasmine The Great | Brand Strategy & Marketing (@lmTheReasonWhy) January 11, 2023
This comes on the heels of Mielle Organics becoming the subject of controversy after its rosemary mint scalp and strengthening oil went viral on TikTok.
In late December, TikTok star Alix Earle, who is white, reviewed the product for more than 3 million followers, citing “tremendous hair growth” after using the product for a little over a month.
Comments on the post were soon filled with Black and white users alike quipping things like, “Great now Mielle is about to be gentrified.”
“Hey girly that hair oil is not for us,” another TikTok user wrote.
So there are people who lack melanin and hair texture trying to colonize @MielleOrganics. I just want to say there is absolutely nothing wrong with this brand, it does exactly what its supposed to do. pic.twitter.com/L4VDZT61gc
— Lady Whistledown in the Hood (@colorfullstory) January 2, 2023
and
With that said, Mielle Organics lady wanted to cash out just like the rest of them. They could care less about black women and our hair, all they saw was a profitable enterprise.
— GreenaGoddess (@SoAppalledMena) January 11, 2023
We have been here before, its the same conversations, ‘think peices’, and emotions that come up whenever a black brand decides to expand.
The fact is brands need to scale…. mergers and acquisitions are an intricate part of that process.
The most important part of the process is how these brands continue to serve our communities.
When Sheamoisture was acquired Richelieu Dennis said the following:
“I’ve always wanted Sundial Brands to be an inspiration to other minority-owned companies of how a business against all odds can achieve excellence, have a significant social impact in our communities, and be successful on a world stage,” says Dennis, “I am excited Sundial and Unilever have created this partnership, rooted in a purpose-driven ethos, that represents an incredible opportunity to take our Community Commerce economic empowerment and impact model to another level.”
This is the same sentiment that was shared when L’Oreal USA bought Lisa Price’s Carol’s Daughter in 2014.
Oh and let’s not sit here and act as if P&G is not part of our daily lives, most of us have a Gillette razor collecting dust somewhere.
*wink*
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