Dove has been forced to apologise after releasing a series of images appearing to show a black woman turning white in a Facebook advert accused of being “racist”.
The cosmetics company said it “deeply regret(s)” the offence caused, admitting the images “missed the mark”.
An image we recently posted on Facebook missed the mark in representing women of color thoughtfully. We deeply regret the offense it caused.
— Dove (@Dove) October 7, 2017
The advert shows a series of photographs in which a black woman pulls off her T-shirt to reveal a white woman underneath.
Another image shows the white woman undressing to reveal an Asian woman.
The images were shared by make up artist ‘Naythemua’, who commented on her post: “What does America tell black people... that we are judged by the color of our skin and that includes what is considered beautiful in this country... they believe lighter representations should be at the forefront... and that the darker you are the less beautiful.”
She added: “The tone deafness in these companies makes no sense.”
Some commenters tried to defend the advert, with one writing on the post: “I think they meant it’s for all skin types... it went from black to white to another race.”
Another wrote: “Think its meaning is for all skin types? Must be more to the ad.”
But others said there was no excuse for the misleading campaign, with one woman writing: “No matter how it was intended... it conveys the wrong message.”
The post has been shared more than 8,000 times so far.
The advert has sparked a lot of debate on social media, with some saying the advert implies darker skin is “dirty”.
Dear women of colour, please #DontBuyDove. The reason is this advert @dove approved & published telling the world our skin is dirty. 👇👇 https://t.co/Gd6MdptSWh
— Kathleen Ndongmo (@KathleenNdongmo) October 8, 2017
Nothing like a racist advert to draw attention to your brand - good job @Dove@Unileverpic.twitter.com/uiktuCCBC4
— omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) October 8, 2017
How the hell did the Dove advert get through so many stages to be published without anyone thinking of the issue pic.twitter.com/KR0v6sfdVu
— Rachel Wood (@_RachelEllen) October 8, 2017
The official response did little to stem the outrage against the brand, which has come under fire in the past for using racially-insensitive advertising despite marketing itself as a beauty company that celebrates diversity.
Okay, Dove...
One racist ad makes you suspect.
Two racist ads makes you kinda guilty. pic.twitter.com/hAwNCN84h2
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) October 8, 2017
In 2011, the Unilever company was accused of racism after a black woman was pictured stood by the “before” image in an advert and the white woman was by the “after”, with another woman, possibly Latino, standing between the pair.
Many at the time felt the lightest woman suggested the end result.
@Dove 'racist' advert in 2011. Depicts black woman turning into white woman after using Dove body wash #Dove#RacistAdvertpic.twitter.com/IQAKW14z0g
— Habeeb Akande (@Habeeb_Akande) October 8, 2017
Dove said in a statement at the time: “The ad is intended to illustrate the benefits of using Dove VisibleCare Body Wash, by making skin visibly more beautiful in just one week.
“All three women are intended to demonstrate the ‘after’ product benefit. We do not condone any activity or imagery that intentionally insults any audience.”
Critics, including film producer Tariq Nasheed and historian Francois Soyer, were also quick to point out the history of racist soap advertisements used to sell cleansing products.
Let's be clear, Dove knew exactly what they were doing with their racist ad. Soap companies used to do this racist theme all the time pic.twitter.com/EzvAiExNcP
— Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) October 8, 2017
LT: Context for the Dove ad scandal: there is a long history of racist ads used to sell soap in the West. 🤢🙁 pic.twitter.com/daC7vgnIPM
— Francois Soyer (@FJSoyer) October 8, 2017
Many critics also wondered about the diversity of employees working at Dove:
I really would like to know who exactly had a seat at the table making this decision. https://t.co/rPRxB61Exl
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) October 8, 2017
Lol did this even look right to y'all? I mean your whole team sat down and cleared this bullshit right here? How? pic.twitter.com/WzsZfpkxAr
— Musimbwa (@UNcubeOthungayo) October 7, 2017
Thought that Dove ad was fake until the apology happened. People actually sat at a table and said "Yeah post that picture"? 😒 pic.twitter.com/DZyj2jMned
— xoNecole (@xonecole) October 8, 2017
A full statement from Dove on Monday said:
“As a part of a campaign for Dove body wash, a 3-second video clip was posted to the US Facebook page which featured three women of different ethnicities, each removing a t-shirt in matching skin tones to reveal the next woman. The short video was intended to convey that Dove body wash is for every woman and be a celebration of diversity, but we got it wrong. It did not represent the diversity of real beauty which is something Dove is passionate about and is core to our beliefs, and it should not have happened. We have removed the post and have not published any other related content. This should not have happened and we are re-evaluating our internal processes for creating and approving content to prevent us making this type of mistake in future. We apologise deeply and sincerely for the offence that it has caused and do not condone any activity or imagery that insults any audience.”