With all the commotion over the Kendall Jenner-starring Pepsi ad, which debuted this week but was quickly pulled following social media outrage, another pulled ad went more under the radar.
An ad for Nivea deodorant which was initially posted to its Middle Eastern Facebook page and removed 48 hours later has been accused of racism.
Here is the ad and some reactions to it:
Come on #Nivea. This is so racist that I do not even know where to begin.😠Speechless. In future, refer to clothes or products, not colors. pic.twitter.com/m0KTSALFKo
— Scott Bellows (@ScottProfessor) April 4, 2017
Pepsi: We've done it. We've created the most tone-deaf ad of the week. Maybe the year!
Nivea: Hold my beer. pic.twitter.com/jdNfdvqjOg— Madison M. K. (@4evrmalone) April 5, 2017
When I see offensive content like Nivea/Pepsi my FIRST Q is "How many ppl saw, signed off on this with no issue?" This is the real problem.
— Sakita Holley (@MissSuccess) April 4, 2017
After seeing @niveauk "white is purity" ad, I immediately remembered this:
"RE-CIVILIZE YOURSELF" by Nivea
Nivea, hire some POC ya? pic.twitter.com/7xIczrkcCW— Marwa Balkar (@MarwaBalkar) April 6, 2017
Nivea pulls "white is purity" ad (tl;dr: "...something that looks like it’d be on the front desk of Hitler’s spa.") https://t.co/IlU0qHDhCr pic.twitter.com/gAxe8OtrHM
— Amy Guth (@amyguth) April 6, 2017
The advertisement was being discussed on 4Chan with racist comments on Monday. It was posted on Twitter next to a picture of Pepe the Frog, a cartoon tied to anti-Semitism and racism that has become a mascot for the alt-right, with the caption “Nivea has chosen our side”:
Nivea has chosen our side and the most liked comments are glorious. pic.twitter.com/BJ7pr6feEc
— JuliusSeg 🇳🇱 (@JuliusSeg) April 3, 2017
Nivea apologized for the campaign, calling it “inappropriate and offensive.” Here was the statement released by Nivea Canada on Twitter:
@tbranitska @pepsi We are deeply sorry to anyone who may take offense to this specific local post. Please see our statement: pic.twitter.com/9nnlj5mzYV
— NIVEA Canada (@NIVEACanada) April 6, 2017
