Dove deleted a “three-second video clip” from their Facebook page and admitted on Saturday that the company had “missed the mark in thoughtfully representing women of color” in an ad for body wash.
Consumers had reacted angrily to images of a black woman removing a brown shirt and appearing to transform into a white woman removing a similar shirt.
One Twitter user tweeted that the ad showed a “black woman turning white after using @Dove.”
Dove issued statements on Twitter and Facebook saying the company had, “missed the mark in thoughtfully representing women of color and we deeply regret the offense that it has caused. The feedback that has been shared is important to us and we’ll use it to guide us in the future.”
According to The Guardian, makeup artist Naomi Blake was able to grab a screenshot of the ad before Dove deleted it. Blake posted the ad on Friday, “So I’m scrolling through Facebook and this is the#dove ad that comes up…. ok so what am I looking at….”
Let’s be clear, Dove knew exactly what they were doing with their racist ad. Soap companies used to do this racist theme all the time pic.twitter.com/EzvAiExNcP
— Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) October 8, 2017
Stop supporting companies that view your skin anything different from “normal” @Dove is racist. It’s not a slip up at all. pic.twitter.com/8hc2c0hCUS
— Complexion Magazine (@ComplexionMag) October 8, 2017
Nearly 1,000 people agreed that the ad was offensive and racist. But some felt that it was not racist. One user said, “there was nothing wrong with the commercial … Lets do better and not over think things.” Another user commented, “For people to say black woman are reaching and being sensitive lemme break this down….. Dove is advertising bodywash, which means that this product removes dirt/ has the ability to get you clean, POINT BLANK!”