Dove Faces Backlash Over Ad Showing Black Woman Skin Turning White

A social media outcry over an advertisement for Dove body wash which showed a Black woman removing her top to reveal a white woman has escalated into a public relations disaster for the Unilever brand, reports CNBC. The 3-second video clip, posted on Dove’s U.S. Facebook page on Friday Oct. 6, reminded some social media users of racist soap adverts from the 19th century or early 20th century that showed Black people scrubbing their skin to become white. Dove removed the clip and apologized, saying on Twitter that the post had “missed the mark in representing women of color thoughtfully.” But the apology failed to stem a torrent of online criticism, with some social media users calling for a boycott of Dove products. In Britain, the controversy featured prominently in Monday’s television breakfast shows, with guests debating how the ad got through the company’s approval process and whether it was indicative of a broader problem with racism in marketing. On Twitter, posts including the hashtag #BoycottDove started over the weekend. In the full clip, the Black woman removed her t-shirt to reveal the white woman, who then lifted her own top to reveal an Asian woman. “The short video was intended to convey that Dove body wash is for every woman and be a celebration of diversity, but we got it wrong,” Dove said in a statement.