American consumer beauty giant Ulta Beauty is known for their inclusive ad campaigns and has often received backlash for those. Recently, they roped in a non-binary male influencer, Jonathan Van Ness, who uses the pronouns he/him, she/her and they/them, to promote their haircare line. The video posted on Twitter (now X) invited a lot of criticism from the users. The hashtag #BoycottUltaBeauty started trending on 5 August,

The video, which garnered controversy, shows the Netflix star and influencer Jonathan Van Ness walking inside a store and greeting employees. They don’t share in Ness’s excitement, as is seen in the videos. The staff then pull back a curtain, and Van Ness lets out a shriek of excitement, seeing products with his image on them.

Several users negatively commented on this video and claimed that it hurt their sentiments, as women, and they do not resonate with the brand’s ideology. One of the users said on X, “This is Ulta. The huge beauty chain that women all across America shop at monthly. Is this what you want your wife, girlfriend, or daughter to look like or aspire to?  Are they promoting beards in women? Just boycott Ulta.”

For the uninitiated, the beauty brand was in the news back in 2022 for their yet another inclusive campaign featuring Dylan Mulvaney and gender-fluid host David Lopez.