It seems as though marketing and advertising departments nowadays don’t quite think things through and apparently don’t have people to say, “Hey ... maybe this isn’t such a good idea?” First it was Pepsi, and now it’s German skin-care company Nivea.
The company’s new “white is purity” deodorant ad included, of course, a white woman and was posted on Nivea’s Middle East Facebook page. “Keep it clean, keep it bright. Don’t let anything ruin it,” the deodorant ad copy read. Sure, it was talking about not letting your deodorant stain your clothes. But for all things common sense, apparently no one at Nivea has any.
The whole “white is purity” is absolutely horrific when you think about Nivea’s German background and, well, you know, Nazi reign from back in the day. Of course, Nivea issued a statement about the ad and removed it.
“We are deeply sorry to anyone who may take offense to this specific post. After realizing that the post is misleading, it was immediately withdrawn,” Nivea said.
But this isn’t the first time the company has gone full racist in an ad. In 2011, Nivea featured a black man removing his Afro and beard, for a more conservative look, with the caption, “Look Like You Give a Damn. Re-Civilize Yourself.” The company, of course, issued a “Sorry, we didn’t know” apology.
Oh, Nivea, you’re so witty racist.