To let you know that Tesco stole the skin tone plasters

[drspouse]

I just saw this on Twitter

twitter.com/lovettejallow/status/1234880832415969282?s=19

I would like to say I'm shocked but I'm not really.

White people probably weren’t calling for a wider range of skin shades for plasters, and so may indeed never have thought about them until Tesco promoted their range.

That doesn’t mean that people haven’t been on about it for ages.

I can remember when you couldn’t buy non-Caucasian skin tone make up on the High Street. I can remember the days before prosthetic limbs were not matched to the user’s skin.

And I can remember people asking for these products. It goes back way earlier than the timeline suggested on that FB page

It’s not an idea you could patent. She should have realised this and avoided big producers who can sell plasters in any colour including transparent.

Why does a plaster need to match your skin tone? 😕 I may be being really stupid here but it's a medical thing not a shameful thing.

That being said I use kiddy cartoon ones anyway at every opportunity 😂

It doesn't have to

Food industry ones are blue, and there are all sorts of brights and cartoon ones on sale too. But the biggest seller is 'skin tone' .

Not everyone is Caucasian, and might like to have plasters that blend in as well

Skalaland discretion, I suppose. I think the point is that if plasters are available to match caucasian skins, rather than stand out a mile, then people of other races should have that option available too, same as prosthetics mentioned upthread.

I don’t know much about this area of law, but she didn’t have a patent, I presume, so 🤷‍♀️

Could you patent something like that even?

I’ve never met anyone the shade or terecotra beige that the fabric ones come in! I tend to use the clear ones (or hello kitty ones my sister sends me).

I thought tone ones had been around for ages though?

Lordfrontpaw they have. Just not widely sold in the UK.

Oh - that’s why. My sister is in the states so she probably mentioned it. I remember a contestant on The Apprentice who was proposing a line of tights in skin tones and I was amazed they didn’t exist (but again, maybe they do abroad).

I remember using these as a child in the early 90s.

In my ignorance I never even thought about the beige ones matching white skin tones, they don't really. I use whatever is on offer, so often the clear ones and my mum used to buy the Mr Men ones when I was little.

Why are they blue in the food industry?

They're widely available in the States, as are a wider range of skin tones for crepe bandages

Is this person also claiming those suppliers nicked the idea? Even though they're not new to market by any stretch

Why are they blue in the food industry?

So you can fish them out of food better if they come off. Much easier to spot in standard bright blue

This isn't a new thing at all. The discussion has been around for ages - plasters, make up foundation shades, tights, etc. The issue for retailers is that they will typically try not to stock items in low demand, because they have to give store space to slow selling lines and tie up cash in inventory. If you think that every store is full, then what will they take out to put these in? I've worked with retailers in the past and had these discussion on items like hair products for Afro hair. Tesco have done a smart thing here by taking first mover advantage of the big retailers and getting some good PR, but if these don't sell, they won't stick around (pun intended )

@pedanticstyleguide I think it’s so that if it drops off into food it’s easy to spot!

@UnmentionedElephantDildo or get rid of the food I’m hoping

Totally normal to look at your competition/ benchmarks when you're developing an own brand product. Multiple skin tone plasters have been around for years. The supplier who sells to Tesco has had them in theit product portfolio for a while, so they might have driven the range rather than Tesco. Nothing shocking about this

Skin tone plasters have been around at least since the 90s. They have always been hard to get and the default in most medical practices in the UK has been caucasian.

Tesco selling them is a welcome sign of better availability of an old product.

what I find shocking is the reaction on Twitter from ignorant people there who want to play the race card and are saying it was because Lovette's friend was black that Tesco didn't buy from her.

No patent, no product. She can't claim it's her product without one.

but she did pitch them to Tesco who did order some to copy.

Presumably she pitched the idea of buying plasters from her?

You find the fact that they made them own brand and bought competitor samples shocking?

But there's no such thing as an invisible plaster on any skin tone. Why bother to care about what they look like if you are only wearing for a day or two? If it does the job that's it.

I hadn't looked at the image on the link properly when I last posted. All it shows is that someone who works at Tesco HQ ordered plasters. Quite likely for personal use! I get all my online shopping delivered to work because I work FT and I'm never at home!

this doesn't seem to even proof that 'Tesco' bought the plasters. It is just as likely to be someone who works at Tesco and got it sent to their work address.

Also the idea is decades old and they don't own it.

See Ebon-Aide, sold in Walmart 1988

www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/06/the-story-of-the-black-band-aid/276542/

And Tru-Colour Bandages was founded in 2013 (by a white man)

trucolourbandages.com/

The Etsy company www.facebook.com/skinbandages/ was founded in 2015.

Tru-Colour got MASSIVE viral publicity last year.

www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/black-man-s-reaction-matching-skin-tone-bandage-strikes-chord-n998671

www.georgetakei.com/mans-viral-post-about-the-emotional-impact-of-having-a-band-aid-in-his-skin-tone-is-striking-a-chord-with-twitter-2635248794.html

I wouldnt like to bet that they didn't 'steal' the idea from Tru-Colour, but as that's not a 'poc owned' company, I guess stealing from them doesn't matter....

Why bother to care about what they look like if you are only wearing for a day or two? If it does the job that's it.

But what if you were going to a posh do or getting married in that day or two? Then wouldn't you want something that even if it didn't perfectly match your skin at least wasn't glaringly obvious?