Heineken pulled its “Lighter is Better” ads on Monday after Chance The Rapper and others on social media said the clips sent a racist message, CNN reported.
“While we feel the ad is referencing our Heineken Light beer, and that light beer is better than other high-calorie options — we missed the mark, are taking the feedback to heart and will use this to influence future campaigns,” Heineken USA spokesman Bjorn Trowery said about the derogatory clips.
The ads showed a bartender sliding a bottle of Heineken Light to a woman. The bottle passes several African Americans before getting to a light-skinned woman.
Chance The Rapper had tweeted that the clip was “terribly racist” on Sunday evening.
Original Story:
Racist commercials keep coming out of the sunken place rabbit hole. Several ads have gotten major sideeye these past six months for antagonizing portrayals or messages about African Americans, including these recent ones from Heineken.
Chance The Rapper just checked the beer business for its commercial which says that “sometimes lighter is better,” a perceived reference to colorism and a promotion of the dangerous idea that lighter skin is more attractive than darker skin. The Chicago lyricist also said that companies may be purposely putting out obviously racist ads to get clicks.
Chance The Rapper✔@chancetherapper
I think some companies are purposely putting out noticably racist ads so they can get more views. And that shit racist/bogus so I guess I shouldn’t help by posting about it. But
I gotta just say tho. The “sometimes lighter is better” Hienekin commercial is terribly racist omg
The Heineken commercials also drew criticism from several people on social media.
Aside from Heineken, Dove dropped a crazy reckless commercial in October that showed a Black woman taking off her shirt to reveal a White woman. The backlash was swift: Many folks were not having Dove flaunt racism against Black women and making a mockery of the pain of skin-lightening treatments among darker-skinned women.
Nivea also made a commercial similar to Dove’s that wrongfully advocated for lighter skin. Billboards showing former Miss Nigeria Omowunmi Akinnifesi using the brand’s “Natural Fairness” moisturizer to lighten her skin were posted in October as well. The incident prompted a #PULLITDOWN campaign on social media.
On top of all of these beauty company blunders, clothing giant H&M made a major fail with its ad that showed a Black child model wearing a “Coolest Monkey In The Jungle” hoodie in January. Though it wasn’t a video, the picture was again recklessly racist. H&M lost credibility and had to close down its South Africa stores. When will retailers and companies learn?
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