Prosecutor investigates accusation of racism in store window of Reserva

The Public Ministry of Bahia notified the brand Reserva to provide clarifications of accusation of racism about a marketing action, after the brand put a black mannequin as if breaking the window to enter the Shopping Barra store, in Salvador.

The brand removed the piece on display this Wednesday (16), when netizens began to accuse the brand of racism, two days after the image recorded by a mall employee, under anonymity, went viral on social media.

It is not the first time that the brand has been accused by internet users for practicing racism. In 2016, a photo with black mannequins hanging upside down from the ceiling at the Riosul Shopping store in Rio de Janeiro was linked to torture during slavery.

The racial discussion comes a week after a store at Hangar das Artes, at Salvador International Airport, got involved in the controversial sale of ceramic souvenirs with representations of black people advertised as slaves.

In a statement, the Reservation states that the window display with the doll entering from the outside “(the same always normally used inside the window) was never intended to offend anyone or spread racist ideas, but only to publicize the sale of the brand”. The Reserve communicated that it repudiates “racism in all its forms of expression”. “Diversity and inclusion are essential values ​​of our brand”, he says.

According to the press office, the mannequin was only removed this Wednesday (16) because it was the day the brand became aware of the repercussions and that the campaign had not been well received. Reserva stressed that all the brand’s mannequins are black.

Through Instagram, the brand responded to internet users from various parts of Brazil that the promotional action “Loucuras da Reserva” was intended to publicize the sale of the brand, but that it was not intended to offend anyone or spread racist ideas.

After the exposure of the store’s marketing action in Salvador, internet users flooded the brand’s most recent post, made last Tuesday, with critics who began to question the brand about what they considered an act of racism.

Initially, Reserva started to respond to questions through direct messages –private messages–, but the charge became for the brand to make public the answers in the brand’s profile, which happened.

“So, Reserva, aren’t you going to position yourself over your new window with a black mannequin coming through the window of the store, as if you were going to steal? Racism! Absurd!”, questioned the profile of Mila Chaves Quaresma.

Nicole Rust’s profile questioned the brand’s delay in responding to criticism, hours after the negative repercussion of the action, while, at the same time, the brand returned to customers who praised the products.

“You spent the day collecting the compliments and ignoring those who sought positioning. Dismantling the showcase that should never have been assembled in the middle of 2022, yes it was the obvious, but keep respect for the customer and don’t leave them in a vacuum.”

To Jan Belmiro, the brand replied that the sale with a mannequin entering the store window, about to “do crazy things for the Reserve”, has been happening since 2016, and said that it repudiates all forms of prejudice and racism in all its expressions.

Without taking a position this Wednesday (16), when the case gained repercussion, Shopping Barra announced this Thursday (17) the creation of a Diversity Committee, which should start activities still in 2022.

Among the planned actions are hiring a consultancy, an awareness booklet, training with guidelines, debates, insights for campaigns, in addition to a schedule that encompasses the diversity calendar.

The Prosecutor’s Office informed that, as a procedure is in its initial phase, the prosecutor responsible for the case, Lívia Vaz, who works in the area of ​​Combating Racism, will not grant interviews for the time being.