Ads & Marketing • 9 Oct 2017

‘Ready for a Dove shower?’ Cosmetics brand angers the internet with ‘racist’ ad

dove soap advertisement mike mozart flickr

Mike Mozart via Flickr (CC BY 2.0, resized)

Cosmetics brand Dove has become the bane of the internet after it posted an advertisement considered to be racist.

The ad, which was last week posted to Facebook, takes the form of a three-second long GIF. It depicts a black, dark-haired woman removing her shirt, to reveal a white red-haired woman.

No ad to show here.

Screengrabs of the advertisement later appeared on social media.

Lol did this even look right to y’all? I mean your whole team sat down and cleared this bullshit right here? How? pic.twitter.com/WzsZfpkxAr

— Musimbwa (@UNcubeOthungayo) October 7, 2017

“Ready for a Dove shower? Sulfate Free with 100% gentle cleansers, our body wash gets top marks from dermatologists,” wrote Dove in the ad.

A third woman, who isn’t displayed in a number of the screenshots, appears after the white woman removes her shirt.

have you even seen the full ad? pic.twitter.com/Ah6aY8nunE

— ζんﾑㄎ乇ｱ (@ChaseHenryP) October 8, 2017

Dove on Saturday pulled the advertisement, and issued a response on Twitter.

“An image we recently posted on Facebook missed the mark in representing women of color thoughtfully. We deeply regret the offense it caused,” the company noted.

Social media was not impressed by the advertisement or response from the company.

“You can do better than “missed the mark’,” tweeted movie director Ava DuVernay.

You can do better than “missed the mark.” Flip + diminishing. Deepens your offense. You do good work. Have been for years. Do better here.

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) October 8, 2017

“White supremacy alive and well in boardrooms,” wrote another user.

White supremacy alive and well in boardrooms. Don’t apologise @Dove we are the foolish ones thinking that black people mattered to you

— Senzelwe Mzila (@senzelwe_mzila) October 7, 2017

Others showed their contempt through GIFs of their own.