Dove’s ‘racist’ ad sparks social media outrage

A social media outcry over an advertisement for Dove body wash which showed a black woman removing her top to reveal a white woman has escalated into a public relations disaster for the Unilever brand.

The 3-second video clip, posted on Dove’s U.S. Facebook page on Friday, reminded some social media users of racist soap adverts from the 19th century or early 20th century that showed black people scrubbing their skin to become white.

Dove removed the clip and apologised, saying on Twitter that the post had “missed the mark in representing women of colour thoughtfully”.

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

But the apology failed to stem a torrent of online criticism, with some social media users calling for a boycott of Dove products, while conventional media outlets in the United States and Europe were also seizing on the story.

In Britain, the controversy featured prominently in Monday’s television breakfast shows, with guests debating how the ad got through the company’s approval process and whether it was indicative of a broader problem with racism in marketing.

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