Dove has issued an apology after receiving complaints that their latest online advertisement was racist.
The company said that they “missed the mark” while trying to represent women of colour.
The ad in question depicted a black woman taking off her T-shirt to reveal a white woman beneath the top.
The white woman then removes her T-shirt to reveal a woman of Asian descent.
The campaign was promoting Dove body wash. It was widely criticised on social media.
@Dove I demand to know why you felt it was ok to be racist? I will make sure stores remove your products. We don't need you. You need us. pic.twitter.com/qJFMg4UoH7
— MagmaDragoon (@MagmaDragoon67) October 7, 2017
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
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
Dove had since issued an apology for the ad which originally ran on Facebook.
They said:
“An image we recently posted on Facebook missed the mark in representing women of colour thoughtfully.
“We deeply regret the offence it caused.”
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
In a further statement, the company went to on to say that they had removed the three second ad.
“This 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. We apologise deeply and sincerely for the offence that it has caused.”
