PacSun Latest Brand To Co-Opt "Hot Girl Summer"...They Learned Quick

Source: Tasia Wells / Getty

Last week, we wrote about the problem of Maybelline attempting to co-opt rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s “Hot Girl Summer.” The brand was promptly dragged and so I naively thought that we wouldn’t see this type of faux pas anymore.

But sadly, that wasn’t the case. Another brand, this one even Whiter than the first, also attempted to use the phrase while marketing their products. Clothing company Pac Sun shared this tweet earlier today.

https://twitter.com/jasonjermaine/status/1152293737994870785

As you can see from the tweet, it didn’t take long for the brand to recognize the error of their ways. You can also tell from the images included in the tweet that this should have never happened. I think we can all agree that “Hot Girl Summer” was created by a Black woman with other Black women in mind. So anyone using that phrase, should be prioritizing Black people, Black culture, Black aesthetics.

Living as a Black girl and now woman all of my life, I can tell you that most of these items don’t appeal to large numbers of Black people, including the straight up dead-faced White girl in the upper right hand corner.

Unwilling to follow in Maybelline’s footsteps, Pac Sun deleted the tweet. But the screenshot is strong. And the opinions were spicy. See what people had to say on the following pages.

All I know is that Megan needs to hurry up and trademark her idea before she misses out on this money. But at this point, with big brands using the name, there’s a chance she might find it all too lame.

See what people had to say about Pac Sun and their use of “Hot Girl Summer” on the following pages.