Many Americans choose to watch their favorite sporting events on television or in stadiums across the country. That isn’t surprising, as it’s estimated that the North American sports industry will be worth upwards of $74 million by 2020. But while sports are often associated with masculine traits, personal care products are closely linked (right or wrong) to femininity. And yet, the global hair care industry is slated to be worth $211.1 billion by 2025, far surpassing sporting industry worth in the United States.
What’s more, American companies are missing out on the black hair care market, which is estimated to be worth more than $2.5 billion alone. Despite the fact that black consumers are being largely ignored and underrepresented in the marketplace, a recent animated short is highlighting the beauty — and the challenges — of natural hair.
Hair Love, which has been shown in movie theaters across the nation before The Angry Birds Movie 2 is touching hearts and showing just how special (and sometimes frustrating) natural hair can be in the black community. While people shed roughly 50 to 100 hairs per day without a thought, hair and identity are often intrinsically linked for many black Americans. The short is directed by former NFL player (making him a former member of the aforementioned sports industry), writer, and producer Matthew Cherry and follows a black family as the father, Stephen, struggles to master styling his daughter Zuri’s beautiful and natural hair. Zuri attempts to style her hair herself, but quickly becomes frustrated and frizzy. Although Stephen is overwhelmed by the number of styling products at first, he’s able to figure it out in the end — much to the delight of Zuri’s mom, Angela, who’s being hospitalized for cancer treatment.
Cherry was inspired by viral daddy-daughter videos he found on Twitter, particularly those involving black fathers helping with their daughters’ hair. His fascination prompted him to write a children’s book with the same title as the short, which later became a New York Times Best Seller. The book was such a success that he decided to pursue a film adaptation, launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds in 2017. Online giving grew by 13.5% in 2013, and the Hair Love campaign showed impressive growth on its own. While the initial Kickstarter goal was for only $75,000, the project ended up raising $284,058 and became the number one funded short film campaign in the platform’s history.
Since the short was released, Cherry has been overwhelmed by viewers’ positive responses.
Explained Cherry to NPR: “When we did this campaign two years ago, there wasn’t a lot of representation in animated projects. You know, oftentimes they would cast actors of color, but… they’d be playing inanimate objects or animals. And, you know, it was rarely… actually seeing a family dynamic in animation… I think it does also a lot for young people’s confidence when they see themselves represented. You know, media is so powerful. And when you grow up and see magazine covers and TV shows and movies and you don’t see yourself represented, but you see every other type of hairstyle represented, that can really affect your self-confidence.
The success of and reaction to Cherry’s story shows that having that representation is key for so many Americans. Audiences can now catch the animated short in theaters for a limited time.
