The month of fasting and abstaining from food and water (yes water) from sunrise to sunset is here. However, as many Muslims around the world know, Ramadan is much more than not eating. Many believe it to be a time where you are cleansing your mind, body and soul, to look within yourself and reexamine your life.
There are routines in place that to assist you with the fact that you will committing to 18 hour day fasts (that is if you’re in the UK). For instance, Suhoor is the pre-dawn snack recommended for Muslims to remain healthy and nourished. It’s rarely considered the time to show off your latest contour and highlight, as you’re likely to be running around the kitchen because there’s three minutes left and you haven’t wolfed down some water and a banana (true story). But it seems nobody told MAC cosmetics this.
The beauty brand has been teased across social media for their video marketing a ‘Suhoor makeup tutorial’ to Muslim women.
MAC is a brand that has become known for catering to a wide range of skin tones, however, this video led many on social media to question the diversity of the team who created and approved it.
However, some Muslims pointed out that going out for Suhoor is common in some Middle Eastern countries and suggested that MAC was aiming for Muslim women there instead of in the West.
MAC is not alone in targeting Ramadan, retailers seem to be increasingly focusing on it. On the cusp of Ramadan, Asos celebrated with a 20% off offer. Some customers have said they love this, while others didn’t see the point of hooking the discount to the religious month, especially one which is based on stripping back all things material.
Though it is progressive for brands, especially those that are influential in the West, to take into account their Muslim customers, giving a 20% off code can seem like a brand trying to cash in on a religious month, without understanding it.
Though Asos made ‘The Ramadan Edit’ for their Middle Eastern customers, it would be great to see more brand actually talking to their Muslim customers ato see what they want.
There is a clear thirst for a researched grasp on catering for a Muslim audience - it can be easily seen in H&M’s latest modest line that has already completely sold out once. But for these fashion and beauty companies to make some real ching-ching with their Muslim audience, they need to first be authentic. Not throw out content and lines to keep up with the Jahveds.
HuffPost UK has contacted MAC for comment and will update this article on their response.