The Band-Aid has been the ubiquitous remedy for minor scrapes and wounds for decades. For decades, the Band-Aid strip has come in a beige, vaguely white-person skin colour – it has been presumed that this is the default ‘skin’ colour. Now, at long last it seems to have occurred to the manufacturer that this is not the only colour of skin. Invented in 1920, it took a hundred years for Johnson & Johnson to make this discovery.
This is meant to express solidarity with the Black community and their fight against racism, injustice and violence. The company also announced that they would be making a donation to the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Johnson & Johnson announced the launch of these Band-Aids in various colours: including flesh colours that don’t just match white skin. Some said, better late than never.
This parent of bi-racial kids thought it was a great idea.
Some pointed out that it took the company a long time – 100 years to be precise – to recognise that skin comes in many different colours.
Browndages is an adhesive bandage brand that already offers brown, browner and black options – some recommend these.
Rapper Nelly is well known for his Band-Aid look – this commentator thought that the newer colours wouldn’t look as ‘cool’.
Some thought this was just a ‘Band-Aid’ solution. They pointed out that a Band-Aid is no use for gunshot wounds.
In other words this wasn’t going to make any difference to systemic racism and colour prejudice.
...Had sarcastic responses such as these.
Some decided to troll Band-Aid for not being white enough.
Many of the tweeple were unimpressed with what they saw as performative activism by the company.
This is just virtue signaling by Johnson & Johnson they thought.
This is a meaningless gesture according to some; where companies align themselves to various hot button topics to appear politically correct, but bring about no real change.
Making a product in different colours such as the Diversity Band-Aids is not going to make a difference, feels this commentator. What will make a difference is if the company has diversity in the workplace and in decision making positions? They want to know whether Johnson & Johnson is willing to do what is necessary to bring about meaningful change.
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