I'm always so baffled by some of the toned-deaf ad campaigns brands still think are okay to run in 2017. The latest: Nivea's skin-lightening cream commercial that was launched in Africa and apparently was designed to specifically target black women. Yes, specifically target black women. How are we still glorifying skin whitening creams in this day in age?
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When I first learned about Nivea's skin whitening cream I was furious, but not the least bit surprised. After all, it's only been a week or so since Dove's controversial ad hit the internet. You know the one where they featured a black woman taking off her brown shirt and revealing a white woman wearing a beige shirt underneath, after supposedly using their new foam soap, cryptically implying that white is cleaner, purer, and more beautiful.
Embedded content: https://twitter.com/WilliamAdoasi/status/920592549391339525?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The ad features a product called the "Natural Fairness Body Lotion," and it's exactly what it sounds like, a body lotion that's supposed to leave one's complexion "visibly fairer." According to reports, the products is specifically being promoted in African countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, and Senegal, as it's trying to target black women.
The commercial is cringe-worthy to say the least. I'm warning you, it's not easy to watch. The video starts off with a dark-skinned black woman applying the product to her skin. "I need a product that I can really trust to restore my skin's natural fairness," the woman narrates. As she applies the lotion to her body, her skin instantly starts to transform to a significantly lighter shade. But wait, because it only gets worse.
The woman in the video goes to pick up her daughter from school. A man in the video throws her a super corny line. "You must be here to pick up your sister," he says before the little girl yells out "mommy" and runs to the woman. "Mommy? Wow. You have the most beautiful glowing skin."
The video ends with the woman walking away with her daughter and saying: "Now, I have visibly fairer skin, making me feel younger." It's literally the worst.
Folks on Twitter are furious and have tweeted their distaste to Nivea. Honestly, what the hell were they thinking? Everything about this video is wrong and incredibly damaging not just to women of color, but to young brown and black girls as well.
Women of color have had to deal with insane Eurocentric beauty standards for centuries, but to still see ads like this being created today, 2017, is not just absurd but harmful. It reinforces the message that fair is beautiful and that dark skin is the complete opposite of that. It conveys the message that to be beautiful, to be desirable, and to be enough one must look and be "light." It's the reason why so many women in countries like India, Korea, Jamaica, and Nigeria still invest in bleaching creams. It's the reason why model Khoudia Diop was bullied growing up for her dark, ebony skin. This has got to stop!
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time Nivea gets into a mess like this either. In April they faced a lot of controversy over their "White Is Purity" campaign. It targeted customers in the Middle East and displayed a woman with long black hair tumble over an all-white-outfit. Folks went nuts on social media, calling the ad racist. The brand eventually apologized and released a statement saying: "That image was inappropriate and not reflective of our values as a company."
So it's kind of crazy Nivea would go ahead and make the same mistake again. I'd love to see the day when ad mistakes like this are no longer made. Until then, I'll keep calling them out.
