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[hypernima]

This has to pass a concerted focus test of at least one room full of people if their marketing set up is anything like my company's.

How not a single one of them on a single pass through said "no". Is... Yeah.

There's so many better ways to write copy.
Literally hundreds of ways you could have put it in better words.

This is stupidly lazy. I would give them benefit of the doubt but the history of their ads is kind of proving otherwise lol.

 

[reKon]

http://www.adweek.com/creativity/nivea-apologizes-wanting-re-civilize-black-man-134226/

Holy shit it's real.

How can it be real.

HOW?

Like if you're in charge of marketing/advertising, how the fuck do you let this pass. That statement from the Company was pathetic.

"It was never are intention"

Literally the only reasonable explanation of the person who gave final approval on the ad didn't even review it. Other wise they are a racist piece of shit.

 

[Kinyou]

Jesus, the post right above the one in the OP is this:



edit: Good god

That one doesn't seem so bad to me. Deodorants staining black clothing is a normal issue.

 

[Phobophile]

Fuck you Nivea. Not buying your products anymore.

Anyone know of a good lip balm brand?

I use Blistex medicated with SPF 15

 

[jwk94]

Jesus, the post right above the one in the OP is this:



edit: Good god

And white stays white. It's for invisible deodorant spray. I'd say they get a pass on that one.

 

[marrec]

That one doesn't seem so bad to me. Deodorants staining black clothing is a normal issue.

The product line is meant to be a deodorant that doesn't mark black clothing or stain white clothing. Hence the "white is purity" thing.

Someone had to have known that this was a bad idea though, as the language is rather evocative.

 

[Alienfan]

Honestly doesn't seem intentionally racist when you see the accompanying "black is courage" advert, poor fucking choice of words though, probably done by a European ad agency

 

[Jimnymebob]

They have a "black is" one as well. Though obviously there are connotations contained within "white is purity".

I don't know if this makes it better or worse for them.
As a colour, white represents purity, so in that sense white is purity does make sense, if you ignore the obvious racist connotations, but black is courage?

 

[Skellig Gra]

Nivea be like "If you ain't white you ain't right" SMH

 

[Gattsu25]

And white stays white. It's for invisible deodorant spray. I'd say they get a pass on that one.

I dunno.

Black Stays Black and White Stays White takes on a different connotation when coupled with White is Purity.


Someone needs to search the twitter timelines of their ad department for White Genocide.

 

[PillarEN]

Is this done by a non-North American ad agency? They need a little help with what flies and doesn't fly in certain markets (which in the end rests on Nivea's shoulders even if they are working working with say an Estonian company). If this was done by a NA agency then lol lol lol.

 

[spekkeh]

White = purity is not in itself racist I don't think. It's simply an age old connotation, it's why wedding gowns are white. It's similar to black = sensual, because it's associated with nighttime. Of course both connotations can spill over to race issues, so you'd think people are careful.

Not removing the ad when the comments get like that:

oooh boy

That other ad about recivilize yourself:

oooooooh boy

Nivea being a German company and apparently being unsensitive:

ooooooooooooh boy.

 

[Truant]

Pretty sure the comments (most of them) are meant to be ironic. At least I hope so.

 

[RS4-]

Well fuck, I use their lip balm, moisturizer, and I think face wash cleanser thing haha.

 

[E92 M3]

Without this thread, I would have just thought that they are fans of anime or JRPGs lol. Don't think it was supposed to be racist at all.

 

[Vicetrailia]

I don't know if this makes it better or worse for them.
As a colour, white represents purity, so in that sense white is purity does make sense, if you ignore the obvious racist connotations, but black is courage?

The confidence of knowing that your deodorant won't stain your dress or shirt.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

LMAO! All of these are insane..

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

Bruh better have been down to using the stove for heat to agree to do that ad.

 

[marrec]

I don't know if this makes it better or worse for them.
As a colour, white represents purity, so in that sense white is purity does make sense, if you ignore the obvious racist connotations, but black is courage?

Well you have to think of it from the perspective of their product I guess.

If you wear black with marking deodorants than you are "courageous" because it could mark the black, so black = courage.

I guess.

Nivea ain't racist (notwithstanding the "re civilize yourself" ad), they're just dumb.

 

[Boem]

Holy

Fucking

Shit

 

[Mr-Joker]

It's understandable to how someone would view the ad as raciest but historically the colour white has be viewed as being pure and is the reason why bridal dresses are white.

But in the context of that advert it's very vague to what it means by the slogan hence why it was taken the wrong way.

But there's no defending the Facebook comments, now that is just pure gutter trash.

I guess they were trying to go for the caveman turning to the modern man but it didn't come off well.

Did they do one but with a White model?

 

[Bollocks]

Don't think it was supposed to be racist at all.

well duh, why would they release a racist ad?
clearly people are trying to make a scandal happen out of nothing.

 

[SpaceWolf]

Part of me wonders if some of these companies are fully aware of how some of these campaigns must look, but go ahead with them anyway knowing the subsequent fallout will only buy their brands more exposure.

 

[Siegcram]

Yo, wtf is up with their marketing team? There's three strikes itt alone.

 

[Boem]

I guess they were trying to go for the caveman turning to the modern man but it didn't come off well.

I really don't know where you're getting caveman from. There's nothing in that picture that refers to cavemen. It's not like cavemen were known for their afro's or something.

 

[Volimar]

I don't know if this makes it better or worse for them.
As a colour, white represents purity, so in that sense white is purity does make sense, if you ignore the obvious racist connotations, but black is courage?

Probably in a black leather or little black dress kind of way.

 

[backflip10019]

It's understandable to how someone would view the ad as raciest but historically the colour white has be viewed as being pure and is the reason why bridal dresses are white.

But in the context of that advert it's very vague to what it means by the slogan hence why it was taken the wrong way.

But there's no defending the Facebook comments, now that is just pure gutter trash.

Agreed. It's also coming from Nivea Middle East's Facebook account. A lot of these huge brands leave regional advertising to regional teams, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was created by the Middle Eastern branch of an ad agency that likely isn't as in tune with racial sensitivities in places like the US/Europe.

 

[PillarEN]

Part of me wonders if some of these companies are fully aware of how some of these campaigns must look, but go ahead with them anyway knowing the subsequent fallout will only buy their brands more exposure.

Sometimes yes. Though not with a racial connotation. Like sometimes is it worth it to have some kind of campaign that breaks some sort of location rule in a city? Maybe yes. The fine could be minuscule to the amount of exposure and maybe viral possibilities. Other times it's no good to go that route. I remember Microsoft had some campaign where they had shit flying over a city (it may have been balloons?) and they had to pay for all the garbage it cost (cause they popped and fell to the ground). Plus it wasn't effective as it only annoyed the people in that city. In the end publicity is publicity. It's not good or bad. You either receive it or you don't. However the communication can be good or bad. Microsoft for example choose a poor communication tactic that did gain them publicity but their message was not properly conveyed as the public was not receptive. Therefore that marketing campaign was a failure for them.

 

[MikeHattsu]

Is this done by a non-North American ad agency? They need a little help with what flies and doesn't fly in certain markets (which in the end rests on Nivea's shoulders even if they are working working with say an Estonian company). If this was done by a NA agency then lol lol lol.

The Facebook page is for Nivea Middle East, and the ad isn't on their US, UK or main Facebook pages it seems.

 

[Numb]

Lord have mercy

 

[Galang]

I guess they were trying to go for the caveman turning to the modern man but it didn't come off well.

Did they do one but with a White model?

I don't understand what you're saying. The ad is blatantly racist for more reasons than one. The time and dedication needed to take care of natural black hair like that is insane... especially when you have that much hair. Implying someone with that hair doesn't give a damn is sickening. I must spend at least 8 hours on mine a week

 

[FreeMufasa]

Lol I remember the re-civalize ad. Gaf thread on it was mad

Nivea (and L'Oréal) have been racist for tiiiiiiiiiime

 

[faridmon]

I didn't think that tagline was racist (along with the black one) but these comments, bloody hell!

 

[PinkyMonkey]

Reading the product description, I see what they were going for.

"Aerosol spray deodorant protection that keeps black clothes black and white clothes whote for longer".

The ad is fine in context, but context does not exist on the internet.

 

[hypernima]

It's understandable to how someone would view the ad as raciest but historically the colour white has be viewed as being pure and is the reason why bridal dresses are white.

But in the context of that advert it's very vague to what it means by the slogan hence why it was taken the wrong way.

But there's no defending the Facebook comments, now that is just pure gutter trash.



I guess they were trying to go for the caveman turning to the modern man but it didn't come off well.

Did they do one but with a White model?

Yeah, you're right.

There's others with both Black and White Men modeling. But context in the copy is key. A sudden pairing doesn't nullify the individual tones of the ads.

 

[DerZuhälter]

The negative connotation is in our own mind and Nivea obviously isn't accounting for it.

Before you scream "WTF" and crucify me, this is apparently the white version:

First Version only works / is OK if you see the other one aswell. Otherwise you automatically think it's racist.

I honestly think this is a case of childlike naivité and Lack of common sense rather than vile racism.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

a lot of motherfuckers concerned about the economy in those comments.

 

[Gattsu25]

Yeah, you're right.

There's others with both Black and White Men modeling. But context in the copy is key. A sudden pairing doesn't nullify the individual tones of the ads.

Agreed. There's a breadth of racist context behind the black version of that ad that is missing from the one quoted.

Also, oddly enough the one quoted has the person holding a head with a stereotypical caveman facial hair arrangement, yet the re-civilize yourself context is not used in this one but instead on the one with an afro.

 

[Garlador]

Well then...

 

[Captain Smoker]

The only thing that I see is people reading too much into it.

 

[Risible]

Clearly Nivea's (racist) ad department has run out of fucks to give.

 

[Lubricus]

The company that owns the Nivea brand:

Beiersdorf AG
Unnastrasse 48
20245 Hamburg
Germany

Phone: +49 (0) 40 - 4909 0

There is a USA office.

I think the ad folks are just stupid:

His voice dripping with sarcasm, Sir John told the assembled journalists: "One [campaign] we debated long and hard was the flying seagull from Nivea. Without question, this was one of the pieces that caught our attention. ... The big, big problem is kids on beaches don't have enough sunscreen on. They run around and it rubs off. So they developed a [robotic] seagull that flies across the beach and basically shits suntan cream from Nivea. This is, as you can understand, something we had to take very seriously."
"This is, without question, at the cutting edge of technology and brand integration," Hegarty continued. "I think actually they're also teaming up with the Royal National Institute for the Blind, because if you get this stuff in your eyes from the flying seagull, you'll probably need special attention."

http://www.adweek.com/creativity/see-nivea-campaign-john-hegarty-called-stupidest-thing-hes-ever-seen-172371/

 

[ryutaro's mama]

This thread reminded me why I left FB and never went back.

 

[hypernima]

I honestly think this is a case of childlike naivité and Lack of common sense rather than vile racism.

Yeah, but the thing is that they definitely should know about the impact of their marketing and words. Was it done with explicit intent? Y/N/M, most likely not since they want Black men as customers obviously.

It doesn't have to be done with the intent of racism to be racist. I mean look at the OP, they probably did not do it with that intent, but it definitely has a context of relation with racism with the comments posted. Especially if you go to the page with people exclaiming that Nivea is now "/ourguy/"

This is why dogwhistling is a thing, because of the context it is provided in.

 

[Captain Smoker]

Clearly Nivea's (racist) ad department has run out of fucks to give.

White, in branding/advertisements and color theory, is always associated with purity and similar stuff, at least in Europe and North America.

This has nothing to do with racist intentions, people read too much into it in my opinion, simply as that.

Especially with the black version out there.

White, an inherently positive color, is associated with purity, virginity, innocence, light, goodness, heaven, safety, brilliance, illumination, understanding, cleanliness, faith, beginnings, sterility, spirituality, possibility, humility, sincerity, protection, softness, and perfection.

http://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-white/


Or search on your own: https://www.google.de/search?q=whit...firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&ei=PlDiWPT3IsjG8Aeb8bzwCw

 

[Sunster]

off topic but this makes me wonder, Asian/Africans skin lightening = white people tanning? or no?

 

[ZOONAMI]

Dammit, I like the old school Nivea cream for after shaving.

 

[……forgetit]

You sure you want to give them that award? I mean sure it's racist, but year is still young.

 

[Dead Prince]

probably talking about the color of the deodorant.

 

[Derwind]

Well, that ruins my morning... Nivea's marketing division can get fucked..