Iran closes beauty brand’s Instagram account over female rappers promo

Iranian authorities have shut down the Instagram page of a popular beauty brand after it released a promotional rap music video featuring young female hip hop artists, in the latest official move against the creative advertising industry.

Khanoumi Shop, an online cosmetics and personal care retailer, had posted the promotional video as part of a new campaign to market its brand.

The video showcased young women performing a rap song — a move that violated the Islamic Republic’s ban on female public singing.

Following the video’s release, Khanoumi’s Instagram page — which had 1.5 million followers — was taken offline by judicial order.

This is not the first time the brand has used methods frowned upon by the clerical establishment to promote its products. Two years ago, it released another rap video featuring female animated puppets to advertise its wares.

The company has also engaged in sharp messaging which could be construed as an oblique critique of officialdom. It promoted a moisturizing cream by referencing the dryness of Isfahan's Zayandeh Rood river, which has suffered from mismanagement and water shortages.

Khanoumi is among a handful of Iranian brands that have tried to distinguish themselves through bold advertising, but such efforts have increasingly drawn the ire of the country's theocratic authorities.

In recent years, several similar campaigns have faced backlash from the judiciary. The feminine hygiene brand MyLady, whose Instagram page was blocked after it ran a campaign for International Women’s Day on March 8, raising awareness about the restrictions imposed by the Islamic Republic against Iranian women.

In February, the Instagram page of Cenan, one of Iran's largest bakery companies, was shut down by the Islamic Republic's police after it released a promotional video featuring female employees without the mandatory hijab.

In March, Iranian authorities blocked the Instagram accounts belonging to multiple female artists under judiciary orders, ramping up an effort to limit the visibility of women vocalists, whose performances have been banned in public settings since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The restrictions on female artists have escalated since the protests following Mahsa Amini’s death in custody in 2022 over hijab, as many female performers supported the demonstrations. Several have been arrested or barred from professional activities.

Artistic defiance has become a hallmark of Iran’s protest movements, with musicians such as Shervin Hajipour, Mehdi Yarrahi, Saman Yasin and Toomaj Salehi facing arrest for their roles in encouraging dissent.