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Dove Ad Controversy

(73 Posts)
harrigran Tue 10-Oct-17 08:46:55

No I am never mystified or offended by adverts, I never watch them.

lemongrove Tue 10-Oct-17 08:35:19

BlueBelle you haven’t yet seen the whole advert.

NfkDumpling Tue 10-Oct-17 07:58:38

I just watched the link (thanks FarNorth) as I hadn't seen it and just thought it was for all skin types. But then, I'm boring white and brown haired (once!). Perhaps if you're an ethnic minority and more thin skinned it might be seen as offensive.

I live in an area with few ethnic minorities colour wise and those there are mix in the same as all them others from foreign parts - like Suffolk.

Riverwalk Tue 10-Oct-17 07:05:55

There's been some mischievous editing somewhere.

The ad I saw first, the one doing the rounds on Facebook, had a black girl turn white, the full ad has black/white/olive, which throws a different light on the implied message.

It's simply showing that Dove is for everyone.

BlueBelle Tue 10-Oct-17 06:50:03

The ad I saw only had two women. A black turning into a white after implied using Dobve I have no idea what ad had three women in it
And no I didn’t look for racism it hit me between the eyes

lemongrove Mon 09-Oct-17 23:20:15

There is real racism out there, without people going looking for it in ads surely.

lemongrove Mon 09-Oct-17 23:18:44

No, not racist at all, and ad makers always use different skin colours to show that all women would like their products.
So, three women, black, Celtic type white and a Mediterranean olive skin colour were shown.

Now, if the olive skinned woman had turned into a Celtic type woman, and then turned into a black woman, would that have felt different?

BlueBelle Mon 09-Oct-17 22:54:12

Ginny I don’t know what ad you were seeing but the one that the controversy is about shows a black lady peeling off a brown jumper to reveal underneath a white lady in a white top ... now the only mean that can come from that is that the black lady is dirty but when anyone washes in dove they will be clean white and sparkly Now if you can’t see how that is racist I give up

ginny Mon 09-Oct-17 22:10:17

Of course it can' t do anything to skin colour. Obviously we have interpreted the ad. In different ways. We will have to agree to disagree .

Coolgran65 Mon 09-Oct-17 22:02:54

I took it to mean that Dove suits everyone.

BlueBelle Mon 09-Oct-17 22:02:47

Dove can do nothing to skin colour Ginny .....a black, white or Asian person can have a greasy or dry skin washing with dove can’t change your colour so why use colour as an example It would have made sense if they had used an old model a younger model and a child who would all have different skin types

ginny Mon 09-Oct-17 21:55:05

There were three different skin colours. The black woman did not turn into a white woman. All three were obviously different women.

BlueBelle Mon 09-Oct-17 21:46:30

Good grief I wasn’t looking to be offended and I m not easily offended but blimey that stuck out like a sore thumb amazed that the people who made the ad didn’t think that it would be offensive and amazed that some here don’t get it

I remember one of my grandads saying to me when I proudly showed him my new black doll ‘ that doll needs a good wash’ I can remember so clearly how offensive it was at the tender age of 7 and how I argued with him that my doll was clean and was meant to look like that If something like that can hurt a little kid how come it’s ok for adults

Ginny skin types are nothing to do with skin colour so by all means advertise for greasy skin, dry skin, old skin, young skin but colour has no bearing whatsoever on your type of skin so actually is totally inaccurate even if you wish to take the offence out of the equation

ginny Mon 09-Oct-17 21:35:49

Ops. Thought I hadn't posted the first one !

ginny Mon 09-Oct-17 21:35:04

Just as Lemongrove says.

No offence unless you are looking to be offended.

ginny Mon 09-Oct-17 21:20:59

I've seen it and there are 3 women. I took it to mean that Dove was good for all women and skin types.
Certainly not racist unless you want to see offence where there is none.

lemongrove Mon 09-Oct-17 21:09:47

If anyone watches the whole thing it’s obvious that it’s showing Dove is right for all skin types.Three women are shown.

Iam64 Mon 09-Oct-17 19:45:30

Much too easily misunderstood. Why didn't anyone realise the implicit message here, that being white is better than being black.

Blinko Mon 09-Oct-17 18:58:01

Ah, light dawns! Seems it means that Dove suits all skin types. Which is fair enough. Easily misunderstood, though.

MawBroon Mon 09-Oct-17 17:47:13

I have read about this but not seen it.
I do sometimes find it hard to evince outrage on behalf of others who may or may not take exception to something

Crass advertising?
Probably.
Ineffective because it won’t affect my purchasing habits? Definitely.

FarNorth Mon 09-Oct-17 17:43:19

Hadn't heard of it till now. Here's the ad if anyone's interested :
www.independent.co.uk/news/business/dove-racist-advert-ongoing-controversy-facebook-body-wash-commercial-unilever-a7989956.html

I'm confused by it.
What message did they think it would give??

BlueBelle Mon 09-Oct-17 17:36:28

I couldn’t believe it when I read it and apparently they did a similar one in 2011
What I want to know is what happens when a white wonan uses dove does she become black or disappear altogether and what about men do they change into woman

Where the hell were their heads when someone dreamed this ad up how did it possible get through don’t they vet adverts before they spend masses of $$$$ on them I always imagined that they would have to show them to various boards before an advert goes live
What a disgrace So someone reckons Dr Seuss is racist (where I don’t know) but this isn’t... ummmmmmm

Blinko Mon 09-Oct-17 17:01:16

Anyone else mystified by the Dove ad? Apparently it's a black woman peeling off to reveal a white woman underneath. I have no idea what that might conceivably be about.

I can't believe it's as crass as suggesting that a black woman might prefer to be white.... but what else could it mean?