Haus Laboratories, Lady Gaga's makeup brand, criticized for 'triggering' ad
Brand value has always depended on relating to the target audience. However, sometimes they get it all wrong because of advertisements crossing certain thematic limits. A similar situation has happened with Lady Gaga's make-up brand, Haus Laboratories, which has deleted a video advertisement of one of its latest products. The reason behind the deletion is the "triggering" nature of the video.
The ad, now taken down from every media interaction point of the brand, including social media channels, promotes a micro-tip liquid eyeliner. The eyeliner is showed being smeared on the inside of a model's arm. That sequence has triggered many social media users who claim that the act promotes self-harm instead of condemning it. This has, however, snowballed into a social media backlash.
A still from the video showed the model putting random slashes on the inner wrist with the liquid eyeliner. Many likened this to self-harm and condemned it for forcing them to recall troublesome personal memories. "Maybe you should reconsider how you want to present this... I've been through a lot and this really brings me back to when I was self-harming," a user wrote.
Others pointed out that rapid slashing movements are not how eyeliners are applied, with some users opining that the brand should choose a different location for their next ad. Neither the representatives of the brand nor Gaga herself responded to the criticism. Counter-claims also emerged, suggesting that "swatching" inner arm with make-up is common and several other brands should be canceled in that viewpoint.
Incidentally, Gaga has had an unfortunate experience of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that causes self-harm. Gaga discussed the root cause of her PTSD on Oprah's 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus tour, stating how her being raped at the age of 19 and a sudden celebrity status developed the disorder. "I also used to throw myself against the wall," Gaga further told Oprah.
