Dove apologizes for Facebook soap ad that many call racist

NEW YORK — Dove is facing heat for a body wash ad showing a black woman taking off her shirt to reveal a white woman, with many social media users calling it racist.
Dove has removed the post from its Facebook page and posted comments on social media Saturday saying it "missed the mark in representing women of color thoughtfully." In an emailed statement Sunday, Dove said the ad, a three-second video clip, "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 apologize deeply and sincerely for the offense that it has caused."
The ad was a gif showing a black woman taking off her brown shirt to reveal a white woman, who then took off her lighter-colored shirt, revealing a woman of color in a slightly darker shirt.
While that post has been taken down, there are screenshots from the ad circulating broadly online. One is a group of four images from the ad that show only the black woman turning into the white woman.
© The Associated Press This undated combo of images made from video shows a Dove body wash ad. Dove is facing heat for the ad and said Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017, that it regrets the offense caused by the ad. The company said it "missed the mark in… Social media users said there were racist implications of a soap ad that showed a black woman transforming into a white woman. Many who criticized the imagery said it suggests black skin is dirty and white skin is clean, and noted there is a historical legacy of racism in soap ads.
"Dove's marketing team is fundamentally racist. A clean body is not a white body. Black bodies aren't systematically dirty," wrote Abigail Sewell, 34, a sociology professor at Emory University in Atlanta, on Facebook. "I've used their products forever, but it's time to move on."
It's not the first time Dove has been criticized for being racially insensitive in an ad. A 2011 ad that showed two women of color and a white woman standing in front of "before" and "after" signs was also criticized .
Dove, which is owned by British-Dutch company Unilever, has long had an ad campaign that highlights women's diversity.

Are new Dove ads racist? Critics say VisibleCare Body wash ads show white skin as desired 'after'

Are new Dove ads racist? Critics say ads show white skin as desired 'after'

Critics say Dove's VisibleCare body wash campaign gives the impression that lighter is brighter.

(Dove)

BY Lindsay Goldwert

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, May 25, 2011, 11:55 AM

Dove, the personal care company that loves to market to "real women," is in hot water for perceived racism in its recent ads.

Critics say that its campaign for the brand's VisibleCare Body wash gives the impression that by using the product, the user gets a lighter, more desirable skin tone.

The ad showing three women – one black, one likely Latina and one white – standing in front of "before" and "after" images.

"Dove body wash turns black women into Latino women into white women," comments Copyranter, a site dedicated to analyzing the world of media and marketing. "At least, that's what one could possibly infer by the left-to-right before and after progression in this ad for Dove VisibleCare."

A commenter noticed that the "after" model wasn't just light-haired.  She was also the thinnest.

Dove's PR hit back with a statement to Gawker, "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."

The brand struck consumer gold in recent years by "celebrating beauty's diversity" (their slogan) and using plus-size models and real women of all ethnicities in its ads.

In a PR coup, the company has scored huge placement on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" with its Dove Self-Esteem Fund.

And while the Dove brand may argue that their ad campaign celebrates all skin colors, its parent company Unilever, blatantly manufactures products for women who believe lighter is brighter.

Unilever is the parent company of Vaseline, which manufactures a line of skin lightening products called HealthyWhite.

In 2010, Unilever caused outrage in India with its Facebook app that digitally whitens skin. 

The multinational giant is hardly the only player in the skin lightening market: Garnier, L'Oreal and Nivea also peddle these products to women and men all over the world.