The Largest Hair Care Brand Addresses Societal Beauty Norms and Celebrates African American Hair

(Black PR Wire) CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NYSE: PG) – Pantene has helped to define “Beautiful Hair” for 40 years through powerful images of strong, healthy hair; however, while diversity and inclusion continue to improve in society, there is still a level of inequality in how African American hair is represented in popular culture and in mainstream hair care advertising. Mass brands, like Pantene, have inadvertently been a part of this pervasive hair bias with a history of advertising showcasing a limited representation of African American hair styles and textures and promoting long, shiny, smooth hair as the pinnacle of hair health and beauty. Pantene has set out to change this perception and empower all women to embrace their strong and unique hair, because all strong hair is beautiful hair.

Today, as part of the next chapter of its “Strong Is Beautiful” story, Pantene launches a new ad that celebrates the heritage, diversity and beauty of African American hair, proving all strong hair is beautiful. Featuring Pantene Brand Ambassador, Jillian Hervey, alongside African American women of all ages and with a broad representation of hair textures and styles, the ad is a celebration of all strong, beautiful hair. The varieties of striking and varied styles shown are the artistic creation of Pantene Celebrity Stylist, Chuck Amos.

“We believe that all strong hair is beautiful, whether it’s straight, or curly, natural or in a protective style,” says Jodi Allen, Vice President of Hair Care for North America at Procter & Gamble. “Pantene has the power and voice to take action, spark conversations, and motivate a change in perceptions. We recognize the importance for African American women to feel confident wearing their hair in any style they choose, and we’re celebrating their strength in doing so.”

“Learning to embrace my natural curls has been a hard process for me and I know that many other African American women relate,” says Hervey. “I’m thrilled Pantene is taking a step in the right direction to celebrate all strong, beautiful textures and styles.”

As a part of Pantene’s commitment to better serve the unique hair needs of African American women, the brand created a premium collection of products – Pantene Gold Series – which delivers the strength hair needs to conquer any desired style. With 15 years of research and development to understand the needs of textured hair, the collection of eight care and styling products delights the most discerning hair care and styling consumers.

Pantene Gold Series is the Brand’s first hair care collection co-created with a team of African American PhD’s, scientists, stylists and dermatologists, specifically designed to deliver Pro-V Nutrient Blends to provide superior strength and moisture for women with relaxed, natural and transitioning hair.

“I love that Pantene is making a commitment to African American women. With the help of the innovative Gold Series Collection, women now have the best products to achieve their desired looks, while having the strongest, healthiest and most beautiful hair,” says Chuck Amos, Pantene Celebrity Stylist.

To view the new ad and share on your social channels using #StrongIsBeautiful and tagging @Pantene click here.

For more information, visit www.Pantene.com, and follow Pantene on Instagram at https://instagram.com/pantene and Twitter at http://twitter.com/Pantene, become a fan on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/PanteneNA and subscribe on YouTube www.youtube.com/Pantene.

ABOUT PANTENE PRO-V®:

Pantene Pro-V, the world’s #1 hair care brand, includes 18 collections to help provide women with their most beautiful, healthy hair. The current Pantene Pro-V offerings include: Breakage Defense, Beautiful Lengths, Classic Clean, Color Revival, Curl Perfection, Damage Detox, Daily Moisture Renewal, Full & Strong, Ice Shine, Nature Fusion, Repair & Protect, Smooth & Sleek, Pro-V Style Series, Sheer Volume, Truly Natural, Truly Relaxed, and Ultimate 10. Pantene Expert offerings include: AgeDefy, Intense Colorcare, Intense Hydration, Intense Repair and Intense Smooth. Powered by 70 years of experience, 200 scientists and partnerships with 11 leading independent hair doctors from around the world, Pantene’s Pro-V Formula works inside and out for beautiful hair rooted in true, lasting health.

ABOUT JILLIAN HERVEY:

Jillian Hervey is a singer/song writer and performance artist who makes up half of the New York band, LION BABE. Along with producer and instrumentalist Lucas Goodman, they strive to embrace polarity, mixing and matching sounds and visuals to create something new and unique. Since the 2012 release of their first track "Treat Me Like Fire," they have grown into global artists with a full-length album "BEGIN" under their belts, which features collaborations from Pharrell Williams and Andrew Wyatt, to name a few. They have performed on The Soul Train Awards, with Alicia Keys and have opened for Disclosure at Madison Square Garden. Jillian is also featured on Disclosure's Grammy-nominated album, "Caracal." They continue to make more music, tour and take the music and fashion world by storm.

ABOUT CHUCK AMOS:

Chuck Amos is a seasoned celebrity hairstylist, who has worked his magic on a long list of high-profile celebrities. He is known for his extensive knowledge of unique hairstyles and has been featured in several publications including Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and Vogue, among others. Most recently, Amos’ talent can be seen on the new advertising campaign for the Pantene Gold Series collection.

Amos has also managed the hair styles of models for numerous fashion shows and editorial shoots, and has tamed the tresses of celebrities for album covers and special events. He believes that in order for hair to look its best, it must be moisturized. “If hair is healthy and moisturized it is easier to style and more manageable.” In order to achieve strong and beautiful hair, Amos encourages his clients to use products that deliver intense moisture and strengthening benefits.

ABOUT PROCTER & GAMBLE:

P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and information about P&G and its brands.