Nivea pulls ‘offensive’ ad
Companies like to push the envelope with their ads. Sometimes the gamble works, sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes, like in the case of a new advertising campaign from Nivea, the whole thing turns into a fiasco.
Nivea, a company that specializes in skin-care products, recently released a print ad that it has since pulled. How to best describe the ad? It shows an African American man preparing to toss a decapitated head (his own?) with an afro-style haircut. The ad copy reads: “Re-Civilize Yourself.” The underlying message seems to be that afros are not civilized.
Almost immediately, the ad was met with outrage. The Los Angeles Times reported that Facebook users began “posting photos of themselves with Afros on Nivea’s wall, saying things such as: ‘I wear my hair natural and I just graduated with my doctorate! So who needs to be re-civilized?? Nivea no longer welcomed in my household.’ ”
Nivea has since taken down the ad and issued an apology via Facebook. “Thank you for caring enough to give us your feedback about the recent ‘Re-civilized’ Nivea for Men ad. This ad was inappropriate and offensive. It was never our intention to offend anyone, and for this we are deeply sorry. This ad will never be used again. Diversity and equal opportunity are crucial values of our company.”
While the ad has since been pulled, the massive interest in the controversy it created continues full steam ahead. Over the past 24 hours, Web searches for “Nivea recivilize yourself” surged 629 percent. “Nivea racist ad” spiked 140 percent. The conventional wisdom is that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but the fallout from this ad snafu might prove otherwise.
Article by Yahoo! News, referred by Madeline Colli
This ad is extremely opinion based, but then again everything in life is subjective. “Look like you give a damn” in this case implies that any amount of “shag” in your cranium appearance is deemed as uncivilized, and that the un-trimmed individual doesn’t care about their appearance. Which is total crap. Rocking an afro is a fashion statement and says more about someone’s exterior awareness then the man with a clean buzz cut. I feel like who ever approved this ad comes from a very old school way of thinking and needs to get with the times. This ads ignorance to me doesn’t give off a raciest vibe (although I understand why some would gather that), just a behind the times vibe. The “clean cut” representing someone who takes care of themselves is an out of date perception. The past few generations have proved time and time again the old saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”. This ad simply promotes more shame in those of us who focus more on our passion then our ability to look “well kept”. Nowadays some people put more time into looking a little wrinkled then looking high class. Once again advertisement is showing its evil side by passing judgment in an attempt to make us rethink the way we want to look with the way “they” want us to look. Selling a product CAN be done with taste and class. As a shaggy un-kept individual myself I take slight offense to this ad. Not because I am ashamed of looking like I’m broke and getting broker, but because I am always hoping that we are all gathering some sort of over all awareness that money can be made with honesty. We don’t need to play with others perception to make a buck. Know your consumer Nivea, we are more civilized then you think.
Well said, Willie!