Dove Ad Controversy

Actually I doubt if any product is good for every type of skin.

I have heard from contact with child fostering circles that black skin and hair can get very dry and need extra care which black people just understood as normal and many white foster parents did not.

Dove is being talked about by millions of people.

...consequently we can expect to see its sales soar.

It would have been better if the white woman had turned black and then olive skinned! It's pretty obvious that whatever the intention, having a black woman turning white after using a 'soap' product implies that dirt has washed off and that white is preferable. I'm amazed this got through all the stages these adverts have to undergo!

Sometimes advertisers can be so over-clever that they actually don't get their intended message across. Anyone remember the Silk Cut ads from circa 15 years ago? They showed a pair of scissors cutting through purple silk ... silk cut. The silk was, however, purple; Bournville purple, and I thought that the ads were for Cadbury's chocolate!

I'm unlikely buy it again anytime soon. It is like ads from the early 20th century.
Didn't Dove do that good ad with women in bath towels, women of varied sizes, shapes and skin tones?

Good points, PollyPerkins and Grampie. A little more sensitivity would have been in order, I think.

There have been centuries if denigration of black skin. This has led to people buying skin lightening products etc.
Dove cocked up. They have made lots of efforts to be inclusive in the women in their ads. Suspect those in charge of this ad were young, come from multi-ethnic cities and knew that Dove liked to show all skin colours in their ads. Unfortunately they had not studied much sociology or social history. If they had shown the models in a different order it would have been fine.

Having watched the ' full' advert I am of the opinion there has been some selective reporting over this ad.

I have read coverage that makes no mention of a 3rd actress of a different type of skin colour. I have noted there has been no mention by some of removing t,shirts but the word removing ' skin' has been substituted (impossible but it raises the shouts of racism by those who have never watched the video for themselves).

If you only show the black woman and the white woman in a video clip or still photo then the 'context' behind the ad is totally lost to the point of being skewed. False news comes to mind.

Question

If you think the advert is racist would you be of the same opinion had you read the advert started with the white skinned actress taking her t shirt off morphing into the Asian/ Mediterranean actress , she takes her t.shirt off and ended up with the black skinned actress ?

Would that be racist ?

Neither would be in my opinion I genuinely viewed the ad as being suitable for ALL women .

In an ideal world, POGS, I'd agree, but I do think JessM makes the point well concerning this ad.

Having worked with a young black girl who was desperate to be white and scrubbed her skin raw to try to achieve that I think its in extremely poor taste. Maybe they knew that and just wanted the publicity a debate would bring?

Crumbs, I had to watch it 3 times to understand what the complaint is about! The colour of the skin seemed immaterial to me. Maybe Dove started the complain themselves to get everyone talking?

Some months back there was a thing about white people braiding their hair etc and they had some special expression about white people stealing black people's culture. I asked my DiL why she straitened her hair because surely that was just as bad! She thought the whole thing was hilarious. Because she is in the public eye she gets calls from journalists wanting her opinion about being discriminated against and she simply tells them it doesn't happen to her. She has got where she is by hard work and determination only.

I hate discrimination of any kind but do think that sometimes people find it where it doesn't exist.

Surely Dove knew that such a controversial advertisement would attract a lot of media coverage. In the run up to Christmas maybe this is a case of “there is no such thing as bad publicity”!!

It is such a shame everyone has to see racism in the slightest thing ! 2 women, different skin tones, one product = good for all ! JUST an ad .....cannot believe people would react in such a manner ....but, it obviously gives Dove some publicity for whatever reason ....I don't think the have anything to apologise for ....over reaction by the type of people who have nothing better to do .......there is far more going on in the world that needs addressing !

3 women, not 2

I don't think anything racist was meant by it. I think it was to show that it suits all types of women with all types of skin no matter what their ethnicity. It was a clumsy portrayal but no marketing firm sets out to be racist, do they? Would people have got so excited had it been done the other way round? If it HAD been done the other way round probably no one would have said anything for fear THEY would be called racist for complaining about a white woman turning black!

I saw the ad before the controversy fired up. 3 different women with different skin colours and different hair and different skin types. It reminded me of that old 10CC video where the head kept morphing into a different person.
I instantly saw it as showing Dove was suitable for a whole range of skin types.
Not for a second did I see it as a black woman becoming white then becoming Asian/ Mediterranean. I saw it as 3 different women.
Presumably the ad people saw it the same?

Has anybody actually watched the link FarNorth put on here. Even the original poster watched it again and agreed it is about Dove suiting all types of skin as it goes from white to black to Asian and back to white again. I bet there wouldn't be a word about it if it started with a black woman peeling off to a white woman. More political correctness gone mad on here.

I'm sure that it has been a very carefully constructed ad, with full thought given to the fact that it may well be construed as racist. It's not 'accidentally' so. Maybe anything which gets people talking increases sales?

Some seem to look for racism where none exists. It means Dove is good for all skin types.

Haven't seen it, but TBH I find all the Dove ads bloody irritating anyway - all those women in uber-smiley ecstasies over the state of their armpits, FGS...
Just as well most of what I watch is recorded, so I can zoom through the lot of them!

I think this is just an attempt to blow it out of all proportion and 'make' it a racist issue. If you saw the whole advert - perhaps worth it before you comment - a black women does not change into a white women, it moves through a series of women. The women in question does not change from black to white - it is a totally different person.

There is a piece in the Guardian about this including this comment from the black women in question All of the women in the shoot understood the concept and overarching objective – to use our differences to highlight the fact that all skin deserves gentleness. Notice ALL not just one women.

This is just the press stirring the pot and some people jumping on the band wagon - quite ridiculous.

She also says While I agree with Dove’s response to unequivocally apologise for any offense caused, they could have also defended their creative vision, and their choice to include me, an unequivocally dark-skinned black woman, as a face of their campaign. I am not just some silent victim of a mistaken beauty campaign. I am strong, I am beautiful, and I will not be erased.

Opinion I am the woman in the 'racist Dove ad'. I am not a victim

We all have a right to express an opinion but I am not sure we have a right to inflict complete rubbish on other people.

The ad is just a series of woman ( alternating ones taking their tops off which is actually more offensive) not a black woman turning into a white woman. If the black model had been left to the last shot, I expect some would say she was inferior or an afterthought! Some people seem to want to see racism in anything and everything to draw attention to themselves in our 'all about me' modern culture where everything offends someone.

Here is the F ULL advert if interested
uk.businessinsider.com/doves-racist-ad-10-9-2017-10?r=US&IR=T
Just scroll down.

Hasn't Dove apologised and removed the ad now?

Perhaps this controversial ad was deliberate. Look at all the free publicity it has been given .