New Social Campaign and Documentary "Play in Color" Aims to Uplift Black Women Gamers and Drive Change in the Gaming Industry
NEW YORK, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Dark & Lovely, the #1 hair color brand for Black women, is joining forces with The Sims franchise and its leading life simulation video game, The Sims 4 and multi-award-winning gaming content creator and DE&I advocate Danielle "Ebonix" Udogaranya to raise awareness on the lack of diversity in the gaming industry and also create new tools for Black gamers to express themselves in virtual worlds. This collaboration marks an effort to increase representation and better reflect the 73% of Black people who enjoy video games. Dark & Lovely is releasing the "Play in Color" social documentary spotlighting the changemakers who are redefining the rules in the gaming industry. The documentary is now available on the "Play In Color" website and on Dark & Lovely’s YouTube page.
"We are excited with this collaboration to bring even more representation of Black hairstyles in The Sims 4," said Anna Huerta, Senior Creative Director, The Sims 4. "On The Sims we not only work with our player communities but we take a thoughtful approach when it comes to inclusive expression from defining our principles on what it means to have player agency and choice in storytelling. This work in representation is so important – when we define the details of expression – lived experiences matter. By putting diverse hairstyles such as these in the game, we normalize it more and more. When players can see themselves trying on these hairstyles they can be confident in who they are in the real world as well. Our work does not stop here and is to be continued to ensure we bring to life more stories from the Black community as well as others who are looking to be further represented in gaming."
In addition to the "Play in Color" documentary, Dark & Lovely has partnered with gaming creator Ebonix to create new hair colors and styles for in-game characters in The Sims 4. This includes six brand new hairstyle mods – in-game modifications made by creators – with 10-12 color variations for each, inspired by Dark & Lovely’s newest Immersive Bolds collection and the three new shades Poppin’ Pink, Virtual Violet and Reality Red.
As part of a free update for all players to customize their Sims, The Sims 4 is introducing 24 color combinations across two existing hairstyles in collaboration with Dark and Lovely.
"The customization options in the video game industry are limited for Black gamers," stated Danielle. "Dark & Lovely changed the game over 50 years ago by formulating its first products for the Black community IRL. Now as characters continue to become an extension of our true selves, I am excited to partner with Dark & Lovely to immediately offer more hairstyle and color options for Black players to use in-game via my mods."
"This is just the beginning of what I hope will become a snowball effect towards games and companies taking the importance of accurate and meaningful representation to the next level," continued Danielle. "This isn’t a tick-box exercise, this is a purpose-driven impact to change the gaming experiences for generations to come!"
The "Play in Color" campaign champions inclusivity and encourages hair color experimentation and bold self-expression with a focus on gaming, to provide Black women gamers the opportunity to authentically reflect their personal style in the digital world.
Ebonix’s mods are now available to download for use. The new color combinations for Sims will be available in The Sims 4 game in partnership with Dark & Lovely beginning April 2. Players can download The Sims 4 for free, and join The Sims community via Discord.
Additionally, as part of Dark & Lovely’s ongoing commitment to building educational and career equity, the brand will be dedicating the 2024 Building Beautiful Futures scholarship in partnership with the NAACP Youth & College Division to create career pathways for young, Black women pursuing careers in STEAM and graphic design. Dark & Lovely created Building Beautiful Futures in 2022 to close the educational and career opportunity gap for Black, female college students and young professionals through mentorship, scholarship, and career coaching. To learn more about scholarship opportunities and announcements please follow @Darkandlovely or visit NAACP’s website HERE.
About Dark & Lovely
Dark & Lovely, founded in 1972, was created to help Black women express and embrace their individual styles. As one of the first brands to celebrate the Black consumer, for 52 years Dark & Lovely has been known for offering innovative products and technology made exclusively for Black Women to address their specific beauty needs. Dark & Lovely continues to unveil breakthrough hair innovations for women of color. For more information, visit www.darkandlovely.com.
Media Contact:
Dominique McDonald, Civic Entertainment Group
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