Makeup brand 'Missha' under fire for offensive comment about skin colors in reference to Hyeri

By beansss Wednesday, April 20, 2016 83,934 3,491 187

On April 20, Korean makeup brand 'Missha' uploaded a Twitter post about the brand's new line of sun care products in partnership with 'Line Friends'.

The post read,

"Protect your skin from the sun! Until April 24, 2 lucky people who follows Missha or RT's this post will receive 2 of these products. The only forgivable person for having dark skin is Hyeri."

The post immediately received innumerable backlash for the inappropriate, offensive comment at the end, claiming that the only person "forgivable" for having dark skin was Girl's Day's Hyeri.

The brand has since removed the post from its Twitter, and has issued two apology posts in its place. The first apology read, "We sincerely apologize for the comment we made this afternoon saying 'The only forgivable person for having dark skin is Hyeri'. We will make sure to be more careful in the future." The second apology followed with, "We will delete the post from this afternoon and post it again new soon. Once again, we sincerely apologize to all those who may have been offended. We also apologize t and all of our Twitter friends and followers."

Despite the brand's apology, according to the public's response, it seems that many customers will be choosing not to shop at 'Missha' in the future.

오전 선블락제품 이벤트 트윗 중 "까매도 용서되는 건 혜리뿐이야" 는 표현으로 불편함을 느끼신 모든 분들께 진심으로 사과드립니다. 앞으로 더욱 신중을 기하겠습니다.
— MISSHA 미샤 (@myMISSHA) April 20, 2016

오전 이벤트 트윗은 삭제 후 다시 올리겠습니다.
다시 한 번 마음에 상처 입으신 모든 분께 사과의 말씀 드립니다 죄송합니다.
그리고 오전에 이벤트에 참여해 주신 트친 여러분께도 죄송하다는 말씀 드립니다.
— MISSHA 미샤 (@myMISSHA) April 20, 2016

michinpabo • Friday, April 22, 2016

The way I understood it, Koreans like pale skin because it translates to a person having an office job which is seen as a better class of citizen than people who work outside (who would have tan skin). I think I read that somewhere. I could be wrong though.

junxxmin michinpabo • Friday, April 22, 2016

Yes it's partically correct also according to my parents, who are korean lol i'm not trying to bs anything here, it's because it's more western european. It's not false that many koreans are racist (or more of.. just weary of other races not being exposed to them at all) but they've been on good relations with the US for a while and as my mom puts it found the beauty of someone who looked different than them and so although they're racist they think anything associated with western europe (tall, pale, light eyes) is beautiful

junxxmin michinpabo • Friday, April 22, 2016

and of course by "racist" i didn't mean everyone I just meant a majority of the people do tend to be cautious about foreigners

nanuk junxxmin • Saturday, April 23, 2016

I think the darker skin equaling less wealth is more so associated with China/Chinese culture, but it would definitely factor into the Korean attitude towards dark skin too.

FM79 michinpabo • Sunday, May 15, 2016

That was true in Europe as well in the past.

Saradhyia • Friday, April 22, 2016

if hyeri's skin is considered as dark skin, then what am i? a charcoal? -.-

FM79 • Friday, April 22, 2016

That was hardly a smart PR tactic... eh...

Beldandie • Thursday, April 21, 2016

this is not about hyeri this is about WHY HAVING DARK SKIN IS SOMETHING BAD?!!! WHY PEOPLE HAVE TO WEAR WHITE MAKEUP LIKE THEY WEARING A MASK JUST TO FIT IN YOUR STANDARDS? YOU ALL NEED TO STOP SAYING "WHITE SKIN" AS A COMPLIMENT!

FM79 Beldandie • Friday, April 22, 2016

Yo....... chill. There is nothing wrong, but in Korea tanned skin is not seen as beautiful, as they like pale skin.

Beldandie FM79 • Friday, April 22, 2016

and? in argentinian people don't not like fat bodies and is still wrong bash on fat people. I can give examples like these from all around the world, all cultures have their ideal of beauty, but it is always wrong to discriminate against people for not conforming to a single standard of beauty-ethnocentric arguments do not work here

weirdchubbygirl • Thursday, April 21, 2016

Hold up, Hyeri has dark skin? Why is it such a big deal?!

BigBlueagain • Thursday, April 21, 2016

Evidently this company doesn't like being in business.

bakuragh • Thursday, April 21, 2016

I never understood why having a dark skin is something bad or something to make fun of :\

zadeepzone bakuragh • Thursday, April 21, 2016

western entertainment and colonialism history.we may not admit it,but we still in Asia see the beauty with the western perspective .It always betters to be with lighter skin color

nanuk bakuragh • Saturday, April 23, 2016

Those who were poorer would often work outside on farms and thus would have darker skin. The stigma against dark skin still continues now, but it's no longer for any reason other than that in the past it wasn't looked upon positively.

guaimaro • Thursday, April 21, 2016

I am glad people like Hyeri and Seolhyun both with darker skin are becoming popular bc it will help change this trend of only light skin girls are considered pretty.

Beldandie guaimaro • Thursday, April 21, 2016

if they are forced (but public opinion) to wear light make up they won't change anything

royalsooyeon • Thursday, April 21, 2016

what the hell? a lot of koreans have dark skin anyway, the people who work for that place probably do too??? i bet they only apologized because they didn't want sales to plumment lmao

royalsooyeon • Thursday, April 21, 2016

plummet*