AOC's blemished skincare cause

Conflicts of interests, ignored safety concerns, and neoliberal rhetoric make this look a whole lot like industry PR.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has posted what looks an awful lot like a crass call for deregulation on behalf of sunscreen companies. Say what you will about the merits of her case, but the optics here are absolutely terrible — ironically, because the optics are so perfect. The shot is perfectly lit, everyone is wearing shades of white, even the walls are white. It looks like a cosmetics commercial! And in a way, it is: while AOC shakes her fist at the “regulatory barriers” that we need to “break through”, Dieux CEO Charlotte Palermino looms over her shoulder in pearls. Dieux, of course, is a skincare company that would stand to profit from getting past those pesky regulations.

It’s the conflicts of interest combined with AOC’s vague phrasing that makes this all so disturbing.