Skin care brand The Ordinary has had some severe social media problems lately, and fans are having some fiery reactions — literally.
CEO Brandon Truaxe, who runs Deciem (The Ordinary's parent brand) personally took over the brand's official Instagram page several months ago, and things got WEIRD. Truaxe has released a series of posts and videos which have led to fans speaking out against his over-sharing, and rude comments to customers.
The strange posts began with an alarming announcement of The Ordinary being pulled from American and European pharmacies due to pricing issues, followed by a post about pulling a fan-favorite Deciem-owned brand called Stemm.
Truaxe then announced another major change with The Ordinary: All marketing is over.
"I have now cancelled all of our marketing plans, all of our marketing strategies because I realize what we all know," Truaxe shared in an Instagram video.
"Marketing is simply a way to try to convince people to buy what they don't want or don't need. From now on, I'm going to communicate personally with you on our social channels and share our thoughts with you."
And this where things went VERY LEFT.
Truaxe's idea of taking over the brand's social media unfortunately consisted of multiple posts of trash fields — including this image of what looks like a discarded sheepskin.
"Stop being mean to kind animals," the caption reads. "DECIEM will never test on animals. EVER NEVER EVER IN A MILLION YEARS."
Truaxe also addressed an alleged beef between himself and fellow skin care company, Drunken Elephant, over marula oil.
"Lastly, speaking of elephants, I once wrote that one would have to be drunk to overpay for Marula oil which was a distasteful joke that arose from my familiarity with the beautiful brand, @drunkelephantskincare. @tiffanymasterson: I'm sorry," Truaxe wrote in the video caption.
Truaxe promised to relax on his social media tell-all binge, but still posted a personal "Forgive Me" note to a business partner.
"I am sorry to post one more time despite my promise because I owe my friend, TJ Esho," Truaxe wrote. "TJ, you trusted me. And I was too busy…"
But The Ordinary fans were put off by his social media openness.
"Take the personal shit to therapy not IG," one follower commented on a separate video Truaxe posted about not being able to sleep because of business problems.
When another fan asked Truaxe if he was OK — his response led to accusations of him supporting skin bleaching and possibly being racist.
"Brandon, are you okay??" one fan asked.
"Yes but you don't seem so well. Please use Modulating Glucosides when it's out. Goodbye," Truaxe responded.
His comment instantly sparked rumors that he was encouraging this customer to bleach her skin— Affinity Magazine claimed that the unreleased product Modulating Glucosides contains an ingredient meant for skin "brightening."
For clarity, NONE of the skin bleaching allegations could be proven, since the product Truaxe recommended currently has zero ingredients listed on the official website.
In a Youtube interview published on January 7, Truaxe specifically described the new product in this way:
"Modulating Glucosides actually reduces inflammation as it occurs."
Racist skin bleaching rumors aside, Truaxe was still wrong for commenting negatively on the person's skin — and other fans of The Ordinary immediately called him out for it.
"You look beautiful and that was beyond and unprofessional of @deciem to say," one user wrote. "Brandon is lucky I don't say anything about HIS looks, since he wants to try and make people feel bad about their skin."
"@supermormongirl @deciem that was really uncalled for. Have you considered that she was voicing concern from a place of love? Your answer to her doesn't seem very respectful. It's not a one way street, you know? Hugs to you @supermormongirl," another user wrote.
And that wasn't Truaxe's only mean comment to fans.
"@esteelauder you should seriously stop this before it spirals," Heather George wrote. "Not to mention he took 500k of your investment and handed it to his family and taking a trip around the world. Racist & a flake."
Truaxe wrote back, "@heatheleemtl bye bye. You don't know which companies to tag and you don't realize they don't control our company. And they won't agree with your stupid post. Brandon."
Heather George tells Revelist she is very disappointed by this "rather rude response," after she's been such a loyal customer.
"Let me tell you I was a huge supporter of the brand and got so many people I know hooked on them," George says. "Seeing what's going on is actually so sad."
Truaxe then wrote a comment directly to Estee Lauder, in which he referred to critical fans as "miserable people."
"@esteelaudercompanies and @sephora. Sorry that miserable people keep tagging you because they wrongly [think] you control DECIEM," Truaxe wrote. "I love you."
Fans are so ticked they are BURNING The Ordinary products in protest.
"This is @deciem on fire BC why not. I'm petty," the user wrote.
Sigh. Let's hope all this smoke clears and The Ordinary can bounce back from this.
It's time to focus on skin care and happiness and sunshine again. Right…?
