Born this way
Nivea's afro ad rings offensive, but where's the furor over the negative women'sbody ads?
OK, here's the idea: We get a suave-looking black guy, and he's carrying around a decapitated head of another black guy by the afro, and he's throwing it like a discus. Then we add a tag line about helping men "re-civilize."
If you think any of the above seems like a good idea, then congratulations, because you could work in advertising for Nivea, which is getting plenty of flack for creating such an ad. The spot created enough outrage for Nivea to pull it off the air and issue an apology.
It's great that insulting black hair as uncivilized is now considered problematic. Too bad women's bodies don't deserve the same respect.
The fight among African-Americans to counter negative opinions and stereotyping about their natural hair started in 2007, when a Glamour magazine editor declared afros "political" and unsuitable for a professional environment. Chris Rock made the issue mainstream with his documentary Good Hair, and the love-your-hair message has been made by everyone from India.Arie to Sesame Street.
Sure, there's a similar Nivea ad of a white guy carrying around what appears to be a caveman head, under the text "Sin City is no excuse to look like hell." The last time I checked, saying someone "looks like hell," isn't quite the same as calling them uncivilized, and that's even without centuries of troubling racial baggage.
Afro-sporting musician ?uestlove wasn't amused by the portrayal, tweeting "Lotion with a 38 yr old atlanta strippers name really wants my head off ... uncivilized? #FuckNivea!"
To the company's credit Nivea issued a full apology as soon as the problematic tone was pointed out, responding "This ad was inappropriate and offensive. It was never our intention to offend anyone, and for this we are deeply sorry. This ad will never be used again. Diversity and equal opportunity are crucial values of our company."
This was likely just an error in judgment, but it does present an interesting dilemma for beauty companies. How are they supposed to get insecure consumers to shell out for their products without calling us ugly?
Telling women they need to be primped, coifed, waxed, toned and smelling daisy-fresh to be attractive wouldn't raise any perfectly tweezed eyebrows. No one's calling Nivea out for implying women haven't earned the right to wear a bikini unless they can eliminate cellulite. (Which is genetic and therefore impossible, but whatever.) If there's a body part you haven't spent money to prettify yet, the beauty companies will invent one for you — like the deodorant designed to make your underarms more attractive. (No offense, Dove, but that's one zone I've called a loss.)
It's great that insulting black hair as uncivilized is now considered problematic. Too bad women's bodies don't deserve the same respect.
As Stephen Colbert quipped, "God hates women. If He didn't hate them, why did He give them so many problem areas?"
