Black Women in the News
9 Shockingly Tone-Deaf Ads That Should Have Never Happened
Dove found itself in hot water on Saturday when the company posted an insensitive video on their Facebook page.
The ad promoting the skin-care brand’s soap shows a black woman taking off her shirt to reveal a white woman. (The second actress also takes off her shirt to reveal another woman.) Many social media users felt the images were reminiscent of racist ads of the past that depict black people as dirty, until they use a soap that transforms them into a clean white person.
The brand removed the video and released a statement saying the ad “missed the mark in representing women of color thoughtfully.”
The ad is offensive, but unfortunately, it’s not the first of its kind. Other brands, including Pepsi, Sony, Tory Burch and Gap, have created insensitive advertisements that they could’ve kept to themselves.
Feel free to roll your eyes at these nine ads:
Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner protest ad
The brand came under fire in April after releasing a nearly 3-minute ad starring Kendall Jenner. In the video, Jenner stops mid-photo shoot and throws off her blond wig (into the hands of a black woman) to join a protest and save the day by giving a police officer a soda. Pepsi apologized and pulled the campaign shortly after the backlash.
Tory Burch’s “Juju On That Beat” ad
In March, the fashion company premiered an ad starring white models dancing to “Juju On That Beat,” a song and dance created and popularized by young black people. Not only was the video painful to watch, but it featured no black models at …