An interesting—and some may say disturbing trend—has emerged of security devices being put on makeup at major retailers. Not only are the security devices in place, but customers have posted videos of the devices only being on darker shades of makeup, stirring up criticism.
Past videos have shown this involving Maybelline makeup sold at Walmart, and now a recent TikTok video shows security devices being placed on darker shades of concealers from e.l.f. Cosmetics.
In the video, posted on March 13 by user @yurrdatt, a woman points at a row of concealers, but once she gets to darker shades the concealers are outfitted with yellow security devices.
“What the f***,” the woman says.
“[These] stereotypes need to stop!” @yurrdatt captioned the video.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the video has received more than 1 million views and more than 57,000 likes.
@yurrdatt This stereotypes needs to stop!
♬ original sound – ★
Walmart is not the only retailer to place security devices on its beauty products. The devices have also been spotted on beauty products at Target. Specialty retailers like Lowe’s and Home Depot also have the devices on select products, Business Insider reported.
The Daily Dot reached out to Walmart via media contact form and e.l.f. Cosmetics via email for more information.
In 2019, Walmart gave the following statement to Little Village Magazine:
“Additional protection from theft depends on the items being stolen, such as electronics, automotive, cosmetics and other personal care products which is determined through data and analytics. Our goal is to ensure we keep the items our customers want on the shelf and prices low. We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind at Walmart.”
In the comments section of @yurrdatt’s video, some viewers shed light on their experiences working in retail and being asked to secure certain merchandise. Some also claimed that the devices were placed on products that are stolen the most. The Daily Dot reached out to @yurrdatt via TikTok comment for further information.
“I used to work at a department store! Every month we got a loss report and from then on until loss is below average for that item, I had to go through inventory and put security tags on everything.” user @aaasaayaa said.
“I work in a department store. Basically when we do inventory we notice a pattern in what are the most popular stolen items and then take precautions on those items moving forward,” user Bella (@mrklllll) said.
Despite the explanations, some were still appalled by the optics of the situation. Plus, it didn’t help to have veiled racist statements in the comments section.
“Wowwww the racist arguments in [these] comments are sad,” user Kayla (@wonderlandofkayla) said.
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