A Racist Wave in Advertising

Last week 2 big companies pulled their ads after being accused of racism. Pepsi and Nivea had completely different approaches, but both ended up in the same place.

Pepsi had a good intention releasing this Ad during their new campaign: 

The video, starring the top model Kendal Jenner, addresses precisely the human rights issue. Having a photo shooting in the middle of a manifestation, the model decides to give up on the job to march with the people. Pepsi only forgot one important thing: Practice for real the “good deeds” they are trying to propagate. Kendal takes the blond wig and the lipstick off in a very empowered act, but give it to a black woman as if she was there with the only purpose of serving her. It’s very important, when we talk about important subjects like this in the mass media, to pay attention to all the details and think over to see if we are really meaning what we say, because saying, mainly in advertising, is too easy. 

On the other hand, Nivea’s new campaign didn’t even tried to be engaged. Their Ad with the slogan “white is purity” brought up a completely outdated conversation about racism, not because we shouldn’t talk about it anymore, but because it is so primordial that we, as society, should have already solved this problem. White is not purity. And the idea of advertising a black and white product with this slogan shouldn’t even pop up during brainstorming, it’s unbelievable how they got it until finalization. 

After all the discussions, both of the Ads have been pulled out of circulation. Let’s hope the other brands learn with their mistakes and never repeat them again.