Posted on 08/19/2011 7:56:26 PM PDT by Steelfish
Nivea Apologizes For Ad Some See As Racist Demand to 're-civilize yourself' sparks flurry of negative comments
By Mark R. Bryant 8/19/2011
Nivea USA, maker of skin care products, boosted its profile this week, but not in a civilized way. An ad in Esquire magazine showed a clean-cut black man ready to heave a dark-skinned head with long locks and an unkempt beard, with the words, “Re-civilize yourself.” Reactions fanned across the Web, with accusations ranging from racism and ignorance to we’re-reading-too-much-into-this.
“Are you suggesting that Black men are uncivilized to begin with? There is too much history rooted in reducing Black people to comparisons to apes, monkeys, etc.,” wrote one blogger.
Another comment, under an Advertising Age article about the tempest, said, “There is more racism in the assumptions necessary to interpret the ad as racist than in the copy itself.”
This ad from Nivea received no blast of criticism, unlike the similar ad above. The venting appeared across Twitter and on such sites such as Good,
Colorlines, The Root and Roland Martin’s blog, along with mainstream media sites, including The New York Times and Advertising Age. (A similar ad image, but with a white man and no reference to re-civilizing, garnered no such blowback.)
Heeding the din, Nivea USA apologized for the ad, which promoted skin care products for men. A spokesman for the Nivea’s parent company, Germany's Beiersdorf AG, passed along this mea culpa: “We are deeply sorry for a recent ‘Re-civilized’ NIVEA For Men ad. This ad was inappropriate and offensive. Diversity and equal opportunity are crucial values at Beiersdorf and we do not tolerate insensitivity. It was never our intention to offend anyone and for this we are deeply sorry. This ad will never be used again.”
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
so the poor model counting on residuals will never see any more dough from his big break in show bidness...
we are truly doomed.
teeman
Mine’s bigger than yours!
LOL, impossible to make this stuff up!
He’s holding a human head?
Indeed. It’s just gotten incredible what “offends” certain people
Anyone can tell this is a picture of an "uncivilized" Jihadi. Duh, he cut someone's head off and is walking around with it proudly!
This is clearly an outreach to Muslim men and has a double message - Buy Nivea AND quit cutting people's heads off!
So simple a caveman could do it.
Maybe if some of thses hommies “Re-civilize themselves.” they might get employed, hold down a job, bond to one woman, and stopped fooling around on the down-low, they might get themselves some where instead of collecting welfare and fathering (breeding) more hommies.
Maybe. But I know how to compensate for that.
I saw it completely opposite...
Muslim Men should- Buy Nivea AND START cutting people's heads off!...I mean..Hes got one in his hands!...How much simpler could the message be??
P.S.....I also noticed the subliminal anti Semite message there too....not to mention the "It's Bush's fault! tattoo on the guys wrist........./s
Some people just like to hear themselves bitch.
Yes, I well remember the tremendous outcry from the NAAWP and the nationwide boycotts against against GEICO over that campaign. They, of course, issued an apology and immediately ceased with the cavemen. Right?
And there was Capital One with a similar approach featuring the white man (and white children) as uncouth, barbarians:
The near endless hue and cry put a stop to that depiction and ended the ads...pronto!
Some morons live to be offended and cannot get through their day unless it happens. They are not happy unless there is something to b*tch about.
When did we become a country of p*ssies?
You know, they only put a black guy in the ad because they wanted to avoid being called racists. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
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