Nivea "White Is Purity" Ad

Submission 42,928

About

Nivea "White is Purity" refers to a social media post made by the skin-care manufacturer Nivea, which contains the phrase "White is Purity." The advertisement came under criticism with many social media users calling the post racially insensitive.

Background

On March 31st, 2017, Nivea posted an advertisement for deodorant to Nivea's Middle East Facebook page.^[1] The ad contained the caption "Keep it clean, keep it bright. Don't let anything ruin it. #Invisible" and the tag line "White is Purity" (shown below). It quickly became the subject of controversy.

Developments

On April 4th, Twitter user @ScottProfessor tweeted about the ad, writing "Come on #Nivea. This is so racist that I do not even know where to begin.😠 Speechless. In future, refer to clothes or products, not colors." The tweet received more than 530 retweets and 1,000 likes.

The controversy began only several hours after Kendall Jenner Pepsi Ad, which also drew criticism for similar reasons. This lead some to draw comparisons between the two commercials. One tweet by @4evrmalone,^[2] shown below, said "Pepsi: We've done it. We've created the most tone-deaf ad of the week. Maybe the year! Nivea: Hold my beer." The tweet received more than 17,100 retweets and 28,800 likes. Another tweet by @OldBlackHack, said "This week in advertising. Probably time for me to kick start my "Ask a Black Person" consulting firm. #Pepsi #Nivea." The post received more than 300 retweets and 630 likes.

Others pointed to another infamous Nivea ad, which was also criticized for racial insensitivity. In 2011, people denounced Nivea's "Re-Cilivize" Nivea for Men ad, accusing the company of racism. The company subsequently apologized for the ad on Facebook.^[7] Twitter user @MarwaBalkar tweeted the ad (shown below), with the caption, "After seeing @niveauk 'white is purity' ad, I immediately remembered this: 'RE-CIVILIZE YOURSELF" by Nivea Nivea, hire some POC ya?" The tweet received more than 620 retweets and 1,200 likes.

Many major media outlets covered the controversy, including Fortune^[9], The New York Times^[10], and more.

Ad Removal

Shortly after the outcry began, Nivea removed the "White is Purity" ad Furthermore, Nivea's parent company, Beiersdorf Global AG, issued an apology in a statement to The Washington Post,^[6] saying:

“That image was inappropriate and not reflective of our values as a company. We deeply apologize for that and have removed the post,” the statement read. “Diversity and inclusivity are crucial values of NIVEA. We take pride in creating products that promote beauty in all forms. Discrimination of any kind is simply not acceptable to us as a company, as employees, or as individuals.”

Nivea also responded on Twitter^[8] with the following post: