Mexitrend apparel evokes online outrage with #WhiteGirlsWearMexican marketing campaign

An Instagram-fueled outrage has been started by posts like these on the Mexitrend account. An Instagram-fueled outrage has been started by posts like these on the Mexitrend account. Photo: Instagram.com Screengrabs Photo: Instagram.com Screengrabs Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close Mexitrend apparel evokes online outrage with #WhiteGirlsWearMexican marketing campaign 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

Utah-based online retailer Mexitrend has ignited a firestorm on Instagram and Twitter with a marketing strategy that uses white models with hashtags like #WhiteGirlsWearMexican to sell imported Mexican goods.

Some shoppers accuse the owners of cultural appropriation, and have called for a boycott of the company’s merchandise. Esmeralda De Los Santos, a marketing professor at the University of the Incarnate Word, described the social media strategy as “patronizing and condescending.”

“It suggests a superiority of one group of people over another, which is why it’s distasteful,” she said.

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Cultural appropriation is an academic term that’s erupted into the mainstream lexicon in recent years after an African-American woman at San Francisco State University confronted a white student with dreadlocks in 2016 and the video post went viral. It’s considered a form of exploitation when a dominant culture adopts the traits of a minority culture, especially for profit.

Kooks Burritos in Portland, Ore. was forced to close last year after the owners, who are white, were accused of stealing their recipes from the “tortilla ladies” of Puerto Nuevo, Mexico. Singer Katy Perry has apologized several times for cultural appropriation after wearing cornrows in a video and imitating a Japanese geisha for the opening of the 2013 American Music Awards.

That backlash is now hitting the owners of Mexitrend — Kimberly Claybaugh Jonas and her sister. The two have been called tone deaf for using phrases in their online ads that sound condescending to others, referring to Mexican nationals as “these people” and describing their homes in Mexico as “humble shacks.” The name of the company itself, Mexitrend, has elicited a passionate response for what some say reduces an entire culture to a passing fashion trend. One user that goes by the Instagram handle smOkedreams said “you don’t even understand how seriously ignorant you sound.”

“We’re selling to white people,” John Jonas, speaking on behalf of his wife Kim, said in an interview. “Fewer people would buy if the dress is on a Mexican model, it’s a lifestyle thing — you see people that are similar to you, that’s how everybody works.”

Jonas, who runs a company that helps other businesses outsource to the Philippines, said “people buy from people similar to themselves. We’re not racists. I have a guy from Mexico who eats with me every day.”

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His company’s slogan is “Life is better with Filipinos working for you.”

Instagram users say the family, who are Mormon, suffer from “white savior complex.”

In their “story” posted on Instagram last month, the sisters said their family has lived all over Latin America and spent the holidays providing Christmas gifts for 12 families in Mexico and serving meals in economically depressed areas of the country.

“We fell in love with the beautiful goods sold in the markets. Every vendor BEGGED us to buy from them. Our hearts yearned for a way to help them,” they said in a March 26 post on Instagram. “Unfortunately, as we were set to begin this part of our efforts, we were viciously attacked and insulted with profanities towards us, our families and others who are supporting us.”

John Jonas said Mexitrend launched a little more than two months ago and that he never heard the term cultural appropriation before “they started screaming about it” online.

“They just look for anything that’s not to their liking and they attack,” he said in an interview. “They just like to bully people. Most of what has been directed at us is mean bullying. It’s from fake Instagram accounts that aren’t from real people.”

A number of posts have been deleted and captions have been edited, but screen grabs capture some of the original content that spurred the discussion. They’re filled with upbeat messages, punctuated with a lot of heart Emojis. One Feb. 15 post that displays some hand-made blankets reads “We love this bright, fun-loving, happy, hard-working culture. We hope you can appreciate the beauty in it as much as we do!”

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A few of the original posts still use hashtags like “#WhiteGirlsWearMexican,” which has evoked outrage online.

“WhitegirlswearMexican?!!! Seriously?!!! My culture is not a trend and this is beyond offensive,” commented Instagram user @_mireyya26.

Jonas reasoned that if Mexitrend doesn’t buy goods from Tijuana and Rosarito, Mexican families won’t benefit from the “thousands of dollars” his wife spends. Therefore, the “bullies” who are upset are detrimental to their own culture, he said.

“It’s the people who aren’t supporting the Mexican culture that are screaming cultural appropriation,” he added. “We pay them what they’re asking for. You can buy one blanket for $6, we bought 100 for $6 each.

The blankets are sold on the website for $30 before a 25 percent discount code “LOVE25” is applied at the end of the sale.

He said the company brings authentic Mexican goods to people who otherwise aren’t traveling there.

“People like the culture, that’s cool, we’re enjoying it, we’re making it part of our own. We’re supporting the people who make them,” he said.

De Los Santos called the Mexitrend social media strategy an “attack on the whole brown community” and urged shoppers to boycott the store.

“Why would you support a firm that has to sell products that is baiting demographics like this,” she said.

“Your dollar is a vote for firms, you wouldn’t spend your money on a firm that promotes these kinds of ideas,” she added. “It’s just so unnecessary, it’s possible to sell products without using these tactics.”

mmendoza@mysa.com | Twitter: @MaddySkye