Pantene Campaign - a tiny bit racist?

   In 2007 Pantene released a campaign endorsing their newest shampoo and conditioner line for women. During this campaign, a commercial was released. When watching the commercial, they’re nothing all that special, very simple just a pretty woman whipping her shiny gorgeous hair around for everyone to see with lots of smiling ridiculously happy people around her. But wait, there’s something weird. There's another commercial just like it! The commercials are nearly identical, one for white women, one for black.

   Strange? I’d say so. Racist? Maybe a little, but that’s up to the viewer to decide. The lines are different, which is why there's the two separate commercials, but come on. If you're going to make two separate commercials, then make two separate commercials. We don't need to see a woman in the exact same dress with the exact same hair style doing the exact same thing - with a different skin color. 

  This was actually brought to my attention by a friend of mine who had noticed this commercial and remembers it 6 years later. “I couldn’t believe it, it was just the most insane thing,” she says, “I mean they don’t even talk about it like it’s a different product, at least make two different commercials!” While the commercial did have staying power and is remembered many years later by those who witnessed it, the impact was less than ideal and left a negative impression on the audience.