In Brazil, every retail store is legally required to keep a Consumer Protection Code visible at the counter. It is a regulatory formality, a book most shoppers never open, and most retailers never expect anyone to read. L’Oréal Luxe and agency Beta Collective looked at that mandatory object and saw an opportunity nobody else had used.
The Research Behind It
In 2024, L’Oréal Groupe commissioned a study titled “Racism in the Luxury Beauty Retail Market.” The research identified 21 distinct racist practices experienced by Black consumers throughout the shopping journey in Brazil’s luxury beauty sector, ranging from being followed or searched without cause to being underserved or ignored by staff to stores simply not stocking products suited to Black consumers’ skin tones and hair types.
The Code
In April 2025, L’Oréal Luxe and MOVER, working with Beta Collective, published the Code for the Protection and Inclusion of Black Consumers, developed within L’Oréal Luxe’s long-term Afroluxe program. The Code sets out 10 self-regulatory standards, including mandatory anti-racism training for staff, prompt and equal service, guaranteed free circulation for Black consumers within retail spaces, and strict protocols requiring that any search or approach occur only when supported by unequivocal evidence, not suspicion. The beauty sector-specific rules require adequate product availability for the skin tones and hair types of Black consumers, directly responding to a documented gap identified in the original research.
The creative decision was to house this legalistic, self-regulatory content inside the visual format of Brazil’s mandatory Consumer Protection Code book, the exact object every retail counter is legally required to display. By using luxury editorial design and illustrations from Brazilian Black artist Mulambö to present what is functionally a legal-style document, the campaign gave a self-regulatory code the visual authority and physical presence of binding law, without requiring legislation to do so.
The Distribution and the Scale
Over 2,000 copies of the Code have been distributed to business executives, CEOs of MOVER member companies, legal professionals, creators, celebrities, and universities across Brazil. The supporting programme includes training 250 L’Oréal Luxe Beauty Advisors in the new service protocols, audited through a Black Mystery Shopper programme, and expanding Lancôme’s foundation shade range in Brazil so that Teint Idôle Ultra Wear now offers 56% of its shades for Black skin tones.
The initiative has scaled beyond its origin point. Twelve luxury retail chains partnered on the Code, and major retailers outside the beauty category have since begun adopting its standards, extending what started as a single brand’s internal policy into a broader market-wide self-regulatory framework.
Bianca Ferreira, head of communication and diversity, equity and inclusion at L’Oréal Luxe Brazil, described its purpose plainly: “This Code is a tool of legitimate defence for a population that has been historically excluded and is born with the purpose that, at some point, it will no longer be necessary.”
The campaign has received recognition from The Brazilian Creative Club and El Ojo de Iberoamérica, and is shortlisted at the ANDY Awards LATAM.
Campaign Name: Code for the Protection and Inclusion of Black Consumers
Agency Name: Beta Collective
Brand Name: L’Oréal Luxe Brazil / MOVER
Location: Brazil
