Smart Move Or Mistake?: Founder Monique Rodriguez Publicly Accuses Content Creator Of Sparking Mielle Organics’ Hair Loss Controversy
In Mielle Organics’ latest effort to fight back against controversy over hair loss surrounding its hero product, Rosemary Mint Scalp & Hair Strengthening Oil, founder Monique Rodriguez is taking a tried-and-true approach, finding a culprit.
After asserting that the product’s formula uses healthy ingredients and has remained the same since the brand’s sale to Procter & Gamble last year, Rodriguez posted a video on Nov. 22 contending that a content creator who “sparked all those rumors about Mielle products causing hair loss and falsely claiming that the Rosemary mint oil formula has changed” was paid by a competitor to Mielle. She reported videos by that content creator about Rosemary Mint Scalp & Hair Strengthening Oil have been removed from social media.
“This has been heavy on my heart, so I wanted to share this. I’ve always been very transparent with you all, and in this situation, it is no different,” said Rodriguez in the video, adding, “This creator was earning a commission to promote a competitor’s product while spreading misinformation about our products for their own personal gain…Unfortunately, some who joined in on those conversations seem to have ulterior motives as well.”
Rodriguez doesn’t name the creator or brand in the video. However, the publication Black Enterprise identified the creator as Danesha Mo’nek, who posted a TikTok video on Sept. 2 about Mielle’s products inflaming her scalp and leading to her hair falling out in chunks. It racked up almost 80,000 views. Beauty Independent reached out to both Mielle and Mo’nek and didn’t hear back from them by press time. Mo’nek is hardly alone in taking to social media to complain about Mielle, and a search of TikTok videos tagged with “Mielle hair loss” and other related terms unearthed dozens.
Rodriguez’s decision to go public attributing the hair loss controversy to a creator, a surprising move given that public relations common wisdom is to avoid the blame game, reflects the seriousness of the fallout from the hair loss scandal. On Nov. 21, a class action lawsuit was filed against Mielle and P&G in the United States District Court For The Northern District Of Illinois Eastern Division for not disclosing risks of hair loss. According to the website Ahrefs, as of this month, Mielle’s site traffic has dipped 28,000 to 168,000 monthly. Hair loss controversies have a habit of damaging the business of haircare brands, and WEN, DevaCurl and Olaplex suffered damage from such controversies prior to Mielle.
It makes sense for Mielle to combat the rampant hair loss speculation, but experts maintain the brand isn’t fighting back constructively by singling out a creator as the reason for it—and so do many consumers commenting on social media. In response to Rodriguez’s video on TikTok, a commenter with the handle Uncagedsoul wrote, “Pointing the finger doesn’t change the fact that real people hair fell out because of your product. Where’s the accountability?”
Ann Buenaobra, a content strategist who formerly worked at TikTok parent company ByteDance, advises brands to first and foremost take accountability. While Rodriguez’s video was meant to discredit the creator in question, she believes the main effect of it has been to invalidate legitimate worries creators and consumers might have about Mielle’s oil.
“If a brand finds themselves in an online controversy, it should be handled with concern for their customers issues and not concern for the brand’s image. This kind of defense further fans the flames or division between the brand and its customers,” says Buenaobra, remarking, “Once you’re fighting your customer in the comments, you’ve already lost.”
Rather than hop on social media to fight against what Rodriguez calls hair loss “rumors,” Mielle could pursue legal action. Although it’s unclear if the creator the brand singled out intentionally spread misinformation, Aliza Karetnick a business litigation attorney for Morgan Lewis, mentions creators can get into legal hot water if they do.
“Not only might it cause regulatory scrutiny, particularly if the influencer does not disclose its connection to the sponsoring brand, but both the influencer and the influencer’s sponsor could be held liable for violations of federal statutory law such as the Lanham Act and common laws such as libel, tortious interference and unfair competition,” she says. “If held liable, monetary penalties can be high and can include crippling punitive damages.”
Before considering legal action, Karetnick suggests a brand ask a series of questions, including “How egregious are the false statements? How widespread is the influencer advertisement? What does the brand anticipate the impact will be? Are the influencer’s statements in fact false, or are they a matter of opinion?”
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