After watching HBO’s new docuseries “Not So Pretty,” a show investigating beauty, cosmetic and personal care industries for the production and marketing of harmful products, I was left with the most unsettling question, how is this happening right under our noses?

To answer this question, it is important to dissect the products manufactured by the multi-billion dollar companies that we see on the shelves day after day.

One of the many traits these multi-billion dollar industries possess is the ability to manipulate and distort the truth. Companies use colorful language that influences consumers to buy its products. The problem isn’t so much the advertisement, but what the ads are saying and how they are saying it.

In the docuseries, Johnson & Johnson was under the microscope, for using manipulative and aggressive marketing tactics that allow them to sell their harmful and toxic products to unsuspecting consumers. For example, they use imagery of mothers and babies accompanied by language like “your trust is in safe hands,” “oldest baby company in the world,” or the most ironic one “more than just a baby company… we are a, keep you healthy your whole life, company.”

The irony in the last phrase is hidden within the carcinogenic chemicals found in Johnson & Johnson products and the thousands of lawsuits for causing cancer amongst consumers. Johnson & Johnson is only one of the many companies that produces an unsafe line of products. 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lacks the capacity to thoroughly regulate products, which allows for a loose vetting process for these dangerous materials to be put on shelves for purchase. The makeup industry, skin care industry, nails industry, etc., disregards the safety of their consumers and is primarily concerned with cutting the time it takes to manufacture these products and the profits they make. There have been several claims against these major companies who choose to cut corners that allow for their products to be accepted by the FDA, as demonstrated in the emails between J&J and the FDA. 

Among the many toxic chemicals found in Johnson and Johnson products is Talc. Many of J&J’s products are talcum-based, which has been linked to giving people cancer. Talcum is a product usually grown with asbestos which is a carcinogen, extremely harmful to the human body. While products may be labeled asbestos-free it is almost impossible to remove every fragment of this harmful chemical, since talc and asbestos are grown together. In addition when testing these deadly products, the sample that is taken is so small it is impossible to fully calculate if the rest of the ingredients will contain asbestos. Johnson and Johnson has faced thousands of lawsuits and several recalls of their products because of their negligence and blatant disregard for human life. 

 “Not So Pretty,” shed a huge light on the deceitful tactics used by Johnson & Johnson. J&J has used a target audience of overweight and POC women to supply their products to. Claims have been made that J&J used imagery to coerce Black women to buy their items if they wanted to remain “fresh.” Black and Brown communities were the main consumer group for these cancer-causing line of products. 

These dangers we are facing are systemically and racially motivated. The ties with climate change are even grander, as studies have shown that environmental issues affect Black and Brown communities at a greater rate. As it is crucial we examine the products we use on a daily basis, it is important to realize there is an even bigger damage being done right before our very eyes. We have always known the dangerous nature of single-use plastics but are we aware of the extent of it?

The plastic bottles and plastic wrapping these cancerous chemicals are so conveniently packaged in pose a health and environmental hazard that is not monitored well enough.  

Plastic, in which almost every product, we know of is manufactured in is made of crude oil, natural gas, or coal. The production and disposal of these plastics add about 850 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses to our atmosphere, every year. 

The main quality of single-use plastic is that they do not biodegrade. They just break down into these smaller pieces called microplastics that ultimately pollute our water and food sources. They infiltrate our oceans and kill off masses of species that are vital to the natural order of our ecosystems. Yearly, approximately 500 billion plastic bags are used out of which an estimated 13 million tonnes ends up in the ocean, killing approximately 100,000 marine animals. 

So while marginalized communities continue to endure the lethal consequences committed by these products, not only to our bodies but to our planet, the companies who made them in the first place, continue to reap all the benefits. The millionaires and billionaires will still sit atop their landfilled throne watching all others, who lack the resources to defend and protect themselves from this harm, burn. 

Capitalism thrives off of consumers and their lack of knowledge on the ingredients in everyday household items that are killing our bodies. And unfortunately, the damage doesn’t stop at us. There is an even higher consequence of production of these items. The plastics being used to hold and manufacture these products is even more harmful to the environment. 

We must hold these companies accountable for the damage they cause each and every day.