After being picked up on social media and spreading to other news sources, Emmaatan, a Swedish tanning salon, is facing controversy for a spray tan product that is being called blackface, according to Cosmopolitan. In before and after photos on the company’s Instagram, users appear to have tans after using the spray that err a little too far past a sun-kissed golden glow.
Tanning is problematic in and of itself for various reasons (skin cancer risk from tanning beds, for example), but this is extreme. In response to the newfound attention on the company, Emmaatan’s latest Instagram post, apparently by the individual who started and runs the salon, states, “I love all skin types and that’s why I think [people] should be able to choose for what they feel good in, as long as you respect [people] around you.” The post also claims that the color appears dark at first but then washes off in the shower to become more golden.
On Emmaatan’s website, spray tan shades available for purchase include “Caramel,” “Chocolate,” “Onyx,” and the most astonishing of all, “Black.” While the Instagram post seems heartfelt, these shade names are seemingly impossible to reconcile.
The company and its products are being lambasted on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter and in article comments. One reads “Don’t like us, but you want to look like us…seems to be the real hate is coming from a place of envy.”
Blackface is cultural appropriation at its most extreme; it is an offensive fetishization of the black body. While some forms of cultural exchange can be complimentary of the culture that is being imitated, this is certainly not one of those cases. Hopefully Emmaatan comes out with an official statement of apology and reconsiders its practices and the message it promotes as a company some time soon.