NEW YORK - Dove is facing heat for a body wash ad showing a black woman taking off her shirt to reveal a white woman, with many social media users calling it racist.
The company said Saturday it regrets the offence caused by the ad. It says it “missed the mark in representing women of colour thoughtfully.” It has removed the post from its Facebook page.
The ad was a gif showing a black woman taking off her brown shirt to reveal a white woman, who then took off her lighter-colored shirt, revealing a woman of colour in a slightly darker shirt.
Circulating broadly online is a group of four images from the ad showing only the black woman turning into the white woman.
Okay, Dove...
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) October 8, 2017
One racist ad makes you suspect.
Two racist ads makes you kinda guilty. pic.twitter.com/hAwNCN84h2
Dove is owned by British-Dutch company Unilever.
An image we recently posted on Facebook missed the mark in representing women of color thoughtfully. We deeply regret the offense it caused.
— Dove (@Dove) October 7, 2017
The racist dove ad is a continuation of a long history of racist soap ads.. pic.twitter.com/znOc4X1K49
— Jemisha Johnson (@jemisha_johnson) October 8, 2017
