October 8, 2017

How does an ad like this happen?



They must not have perceived how it looks.

WaPo:
Was Dove saying that inside every black woman is a smiling redheaded white woman? Was Dove invoking the centuries-old stereotype that black is dirty and white is pure? Or that black skin can or should be cleansed away?...
I doubt it!
The Dove brand sheepishly admitted that it had “missed the mark” with a not-so-vaguely racist advertisement that has made it the latest target of consumer rage.
I think that must be true. True and bad. But who could believe the alternative?

ADDED: I think the images in the tweet are screen shots and that to understand the idea that led to the ad, we should be looking at video. This gives some idea of the effect (which includes a third woman, with a intermediate skin tone after the white woman). I'm guessing that the idea was that transforming from one race to another was thought to show racial harmony, as clearly happens in the famous face-morphing sequence in the Michael Jackson video "Black or White":

111 comments:

Oso Negro said...

Could it possibly be that there are lots of people who expect soap to make them cleaner and whiter? Or do you expect that every enterprise will have as a core value to do and say nothing that might possible offend someone somewhere?

Humperdink said...

Hands up, don't bleach

The Bergall said...

off to the diversity gulag.........

Ralph L said...

That's so stupidly offensive, it might have been intended to drum up publicity for Dove, good or bad. Judging from what passes for ads these days, I could be right.

D. said...

I like this ad. Trigger the sjws.

George Grady said...

Maybe they'd planned a whole bunch of these to show the variety of people who could use their product, kind of like in Michael Jackson's Black or White video?

Maybe?

I dunno, just spitballing here.

M Jordan said...

So how many guards did this ad make it by?

Fire them all.

Virgil Hilts said...

That's what happens when u outsource creative to the R Spencer Marketing Agency.
OTOH, isn't whiteness the leitmotif of the Dove brand? The birds are white and unstained, as is the soap bar. All of Dove's packaging is 95% white. From Dove's perspective, white is the absence of dirt.
I refused to tell my wife about this story even after the 4th time I saw; I assumed it had to be fake news.

stever said...

had to be intentional, but for what reason, I cannot say

n.n said...

So, does this mean that bleach is out, and carbon-based soot is back in?

And what to make of the rainbow symbolism that shreds white into its constituent colors, while altogether excluding black and brown?

Actually, it's diversity compliant.

The left's rampant diversity is epitomized by declaration that first-world nations and regimes are white, while second and third-world societies are populated by black and brown people. There is a similar clear and progressive diversity marker, when they refer to flyover people as "rednecks".

I think this latest Pro-Choice outrage merits one response: go Plan yourself.

D. said...

Roy G Biv wasn't interviewed for this ad reaction.

n.n said...

It's interesting to note that diverse (i.e. progressive racist classification) babies begin their lives with a light-colored skin, which evolves with darker shades as they mature. Nature is a rabid color diversitist.

n.n said...

I like this ad. Trigger the sjws.

Exactly. It triggers all the left people, who deny individual dignity, and the inconvenient truths of Mother Nature.

Anonymous said...

Now I'm thinking of the satiric novel Black No More, written by a black author before World War II, which envisions a scientific process that enables black people to "whiten" themselves, and the social chaos that follows its commercialization.

Bob Boyd said...

I've got an idea for Dove's next ad.

A beautiful, but clearly anxious young woman is watching Harvey Weinstein taking a shower.
The camera zooms in on Weinstein. Weinstein looks into the camera, holds up a bottle of Dove body wash, smiles and says, "Come clean."

traditionalguy said...

That is one heck of a moisturizer. Maybe Dove thinks black men will buy it for their black girlfriends. Getting themselves a blue eyed Redhead is a fetish among men from cultures who are always stuck mating with black/brunette haired women with brown eyes.

Time to watch a rerun of Celtic Woman.

n.n said...

Is WaPo bored? Are they finished conspiring with the DNC, Kiev agents, and other foreign assets to disenfranchise American citizens?

I recall the black hole controversy, where social justice profiteers characterized black women as whores, and the "good" Americans cheered. Is this the first target in a new diversity racket extortion cycle?

rcocean said...

Is there anything more racist then white soap?

I'm sure that Althouse uses black soap.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Getting themselves a blue eyed Redhead is

About as good as one with green eyes. I say dove should be prosecuted for false advertising. If you could turn black women into redheads with the application of a bottle of Dove, they'd be dropping it out of airplanes.

Sprezzatura said...

Q: How could this happen?

A: White privilege.

Narayanan said...

Did not have budget for couple more model changes ... Like in Mission Impossible

Sprezzatura said...

BTW, in addition to turning black gals into white gals, it seems that Dove makes your tits hotter.

bgates said...

Honestly, Althouse, I've never heard of this so-called "Dove" or whatever before you started your incessant posts about it.

Ken B said...

I think Ralph L might be right. Like Hugh Grant with the hooker. Buzz.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

If we were a truly color blind nation, it would not matter.

Why not reverse it. Start out with white chick, use dove, turn into black chick.

M.E. said...

I agree it was dumb that they didn't think this through - but those four images weren't the original ad. The original was a video that next showed the white woman morphing into an Asian woman. Unless you want to believe that Dove was pushing the racist message that only Asian women are worthy, it really wasn't meant to be racist. Remember, whenever the SJWs are on the warpath, be highly skeptical.

tcrosse said...

One would hope that's not how Althouse became a redhead.
Prince Harry, call your office.

Virgil Hilts said...

This story is getting better, now including Matt Damon pressuring NY Times years ago not to report on HW's abuse of women.
NY Times Cowardice

rcocean said...

Seriously, "Dove soap" is owned by $60 Billion international corporation. Their ad campaigns cost $millions and have to be approved by top level marketing execs, lawyers, and SJW types.

They know who their customers are, and how to persuade them. Nothing in these commercials happen by accident.

If this is "obviously" racist, then the idea it got by all the gatekeepers without being noticed is zero. Which means, it was put out to create controversy and promote the product.

Virgil Hilts said...

Whoops - posted to wrong thread:(

bwebster said...

I am utterly baffled that anyone in 2016 would make a commercial like this. It's so amazingly stupid that I can't even. As my millennial children would say.

Bay Area Guy said...

I don't get it. Attractive black female is dirty and needs a good scrubbing, and, voila, Dove turns her into a pasty white girl?

That makes no marketing sense whatsoever. Who are the Ad wizards who came up with that one.

MayBee said...

You can see it here: https://twitter.com/HasdiBravo/status/917052478738305024

It's a video, and the shirt is like a screen wipe to morph- kind of like the old Michael Jackson video.

The black woman takes her shirt off and we see a white woman. The white woman takes her shirt off and we see an asian woman.
Not racist.
Racist would have been implying using the soap turns you from black to white, or that white is somehow superior.
This ad is actually inclusive.

MayBee said...

formatted link for those who like to click (goes to a twitter feed)

themightypuck said...

It's only racist if you are racist.

madAsHell said...

So....NOW we know what happened to Micheal Jackson!! It even affected his nose!!

madAsHell said...

oooppsss! Someone already notice the Micheal Jackson connection.

Kylos said...

+1 M.E.

It was a video showing a diverse group of women preparing to shower. Once you see the screen shots it's hard to think it was anything other than showing a black woman becoming a white woman. However, if you'd seen the video first, you'd probably wouldn't have thought twice about it.

It wouldn't surprise me if they put the white woman second to avoid accusations of promoting white primacy.

n.n said...

Dove was pushing the racist message that only Asian women are worthy

Apparently, that was part of the message. The ad depicted a black woman evolving into a white woman evolving into an Asian woman. This was clearly an effort by the Chinese government to communicate the racial superiority of Asian people.

However, there is another message. Why did Dove exclude gender transformation?

n.n said...

Why did the for-profit black diversity group exclude the ad's Asian woman from the collage?

Sprezzatura said...

"This was clearly an effort by the Chinese government to communicate the racial superiority of Asian people."

Not Asian people v other people, only Asian women v other women.

In fact the ranking is exactly reversed for men. Tiny dicks = not good.

n.n said...

How does an ad like this happen?

The collage was the product of creative manipulation with a visible prejudice against Asian diversity.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I recall the ad was all sorts of women... not just the black and white.
first world offenses. So luxurious.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

When I first read about this I thought it was so bizarrely incompetent it couldn't be true. And it wasn't, as the original reports didn't mention the morph to the Asian.
There's a simple way to avoid this kind of hoo-ha and it applies to employment as well. Stick with White and everything will be alright. At least I assume that's the message SJW's are trying to drive home. Don't think this lesson has gone unnoticed in the HR departments of America.

n.n said...

It looks like in the diversity racket's race to change the narrative, they purposely and willfully excluded or subordinated Asian diversity. Haste makes waste reveals not so latent color diversity bigotry.

What were they thinking?

This should cost the neo-Democratic Party votes from the Asian diversity cluster of cells.

It is these types of diversity racket schemes why the rabidly Pro-Choice neo-Democratic Party (confirmed during Water Closet) lost the trust of Americans (excluding subsidized illegal aliens, survivors of Obama's man-made trail of tears), and the top minority.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Dove cleans that black right off ya.

Henry said...

Inside every black woman there's a Tilda Swinton? That's weird.

n.n said...

Diversity politics bights diversity racketeers.

Well, not yet. Still, these rackets have progressive (i.e. [unqualified] monotonic) viability in civilized society.

Can progressive liberals have their baby and abort, cannibalize, it too?

Wince said...

"White skin on the black market."

n.n said...

So, Dove's concept of evolution is from black to white to Asian?

Where's brown? Where's the rainbow?

What is the fitness function?

Why did the diversity racket, WaPo, NYT, and other journolists, in their haste and enthusiasm to manipulate percepton, abort the Asian woman?

n.n said...

re: Planned Asian

If progressive liberals threaten a Libya solution in Asia, how much longer will the Chinese absorb the environmental disruption forced by recovery and manufacturing of "green" windmills and photovoltaic panels?

I think the color diversity racket's haste to abort the Asian women while in hot pursuit of their target will come back to haunt them a la the hearts beat ever louder. Everyone knows where progressive liberals sequestered the babies head, shoulders, and other unprofitable parts.

Darrell said...

She becomes white, then sees the casting call sheet for "Hamilton." No whites need apply.

Ralph L said...

Shouldn't this be Ivory's ad?

If they went from African to European to Asian and back to African, it wouldn't be so offensive, but what the hell is it trying to say about their soap?

Where's the one quarter cleansing cream? The soft as a baby's behind?

Earnest Prole said...

Oh fer fuck's sake. Anyone with an IQ over body temperature knows this ad is playing with racial stereotypes, so the only possible conclusion is that Dove calculated the controversy would be a net gain for the company.

Sprezzatura said...

Does anyone here speak African American Vernacular English?

I don't get the name of the Tweeter that Althouse is highlighting. Presumably chasity = chastity [= prude, imho].

I dunno.

Darrell said...

Or Chastity is a name.

Darrell said...

The Russians spent $52 for that ad on Facebook to sway the election for Trump.

Sprezzatura said...

"Or Chastity is a name."

So, for AAVE, Chasity is to Chastity as Pude is to Prude.

Got it.

n.n said...

The ad depicts the interchangeable conditions and needs of diverse (i.e. colorful) women. Sometimes what appears to be a blatant act of perverse diversity (a la NAACP's characterization of black women as black whores) is actually just a bar of soap that appeals to black, white, and a noticeably Planned Asian woman.

n.n said...

Why did Chasity and THEBLKBOXCO abort the Asian woman in the original, diversity-compliant ad?

gg6 said...

Incompetence in all its various forms - it's actually been happening all over the Ad Industry for a number of years. It started with a growing landslide of mergers and acquisitions followed by the inevitable obsession with P&L to pay for the buyouts, followed by a collapse of traditional client spending on profitable TV and print and the herd-llke turn toward less profitable electronic/on-line. mktg staffed by nerds and computer clerks. The mass influx of low-cost low-talent millennials who were born thinking they already 'know it all' didn't help, nor did the increasing tendency to reward the star 'bureaucrats' not the annoying but talented-gifted 'creative' types. Look in the mirror and they see the same on the Client side. None of this works well over time...duh.

n.n said...

There's another controversy. This one hits Dove and the diversity racketeers equally.

The original ad depicted the shared conditions and needs of progressively diverse (i.e. colorful) women for a Dove product. The original, unadulterated ad shows a black woman transferring a brown shirt to a white woman transferring the brown shirt to a now Planned Asian woman.

What happened to the brown shirt? And, where are the rainbow-colored cannibalizing the white colored?

Why did Chasity and THEBLKBOXCO abort the Asian woman and choose to overlook the black woman shedding her brown shirt?

Unknown said...

I wonder if the models knew what the final product would look like.

maskirovka77 said...

I initially thought that Dove was insane for putting up an ad like this when I just looked at the screenshots. But then I saw the video sequence, and I don't think Dove was intentionally seeking to offend. I also think that the people who are complaining about this without acknowledging that the screen shots are not the complete ad...which shows the white woman turning into what looked like an Hispanic woman to me are being deliberately deceptive or making a strenuous effort to find grave offense where none as intended. I also thought it was rather "cute" on CNN's part in its story about this to not state that the white woman changed into a different race woman but simply "another woman."

Bay Area Guy said...

Darn, if you watch the whole thing, not the screenshot, it's kinda sweet in a United-Nations/America the Melting Pot/Celebrating Diversity kinda way.

As Chris Rock once said - context is everything. Or maybe that was George Carlin.

Ralph L said...

They could have started with the white woman before slipping in a multi-racial transsexual.

Ty said...

Not the first time either. Apologies for the HuffPo link, first one I found. Seems obvious to be some kind of strategy.

libersomething said...

Now that there is funny!

libersomething said...

Now that there is funny!

William said...

That's some potent soap. I think the point of the ad was to show a pretty woman taking off her shirt. That's sure to attract viewers. Even though I know they're not going to show nudity, I pay attention every time. Puppiies are good too. They should show a playful puppy pulling off the bedcovers of an attractive woman. That would sell a lot of soap.

n.n said...

Dove produced an ad that represents the true spirit of progressive diversity. Their mistake was to not discriminate between the women based on the color of their skin, but rather to demonstrate unity based on shared conditions and needs of diverse women for Dove products. Now, the diversity racketeers and WaPo et al want a share of the profits.

This has the NAACP's characterization of black women as whores written all over it.

Ty said...

Dove came of age in 1957, when the rules about black people were different.

n.n said...

Notwithstanding the election of Chasity and THEBLKBOXCO, and WaPo and company, to Choose Planned Asian ex post facto, the original, unadulterated Dove ad is progressive diversity-compliant in spirit and practice, if not actually in principle. That is to say the Dove ad does not follow the progressive doctrine of diversity to discriminate between individuals based on the color of their skin.

Ken B said...

It doesn’t actually stop there. The redhead peels off to reveal a brown skinned brunette.

https://mobile.twitter.com/HasdiBravo/status/917052478738305024/video/1

I don’t know if it goes on more. But it’s not quite what the screencap suggests.

Yancey Ward said...

The entire ad is not racist on any level unless you are simply a moron or a liar who can't be bothered to discuss the entire ad in context.

Laslo Spatula said...

When Dove drops this ad campaign Colt .45 should pick it up.

Cut in Billy Dee Williams nodding appreciatively.

I am Laslo.

n.n said...

Different shapes. Different sizes. Different colors. Different women. All of whom share a common utility for Dove products.

While the NAACP characterization of black women as whores did not ultimately backfire, or perhaps it did outside the hallowed halls of the diversity rackets and DNC. Hopefully, this latest revenue extortion cycle will end with the diversitists and their mainstream propaganda press humbled and poorer for having the audacity to prey on people's incidental differences and common humanity.

Laslo Spatula said...

Which of these is not an actual Dove Product?

White Beauty Bar

Sensitive Skin Beauty Bar

Dry Oil Beauty Bar

Pink Beauty Bar

High Yellow Beauty Bar

I am Laslo.

n.n said...

High Yellow Beauty Bar.

Now that I'm in a color diversity frame of mind, I wonder if it's significant that toilet paper is invariably white.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

It's a brilliant ad that clearly depicts the color-agnostic utility of Dove products.

The diversity rackets should be ashamed, and hopefully litigated into submission, for having the recurring audacity to inject the progressive concept of diversity (e.g. color) into a statement that focuses on our common humanity, rather than the liberal standard of interchangeable, and, with celebration of Planned Parenthood, disposable, women, men, babies, and our profitable parts, too.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

Perhaps Dove could invest in California Charcoal Facial Mask to balance the color scale of personal beauty products to meet the progressive standard of diversity.

Let's see, what other colors are missing from Dove's product line?

What other colors, shapes, sizes, and ages of women are missing from their ad?

There must be a way of balancing the color scales of beauty products and still meet progressive diversity quotas. Perhaps they can litigate to force the color diversity rackets, and DNC, to invest in a broad spectrum self-esteem campaign.

gadfly said...

Are we forgetting that the black race judges itself by its skin color? In 2009, the Reverend Joseph Lowery prayed at the Obama inauguration:

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around . . . when yellow will be mellow . . . when the red man can get ahead, man . . . and when white will embrace what is right.

Reverend Lowery deftly reworded a very old rhyme, that essentially referenced the black community's color-based system of privilege that existed in the United States for a very long time. In the past, black "brothers and sisters" in America categorized, labeled and otherwise discriminated against one another based on the shade of their skin color and texture of their hair.

gadfly said...

"If you're black, get back" - Cultural stratification from 1940.

If you're white, you're alright.
If you're black, get back.
If you're brown, stick around.
If you're yellow, you're mellow.
If you're red, you're already dead
If you're Black - get back!
If you're white - you alright

If you're Black - get back!
If you're white - you alright

If you're Brown - stick around
If you're Yellow - you must one mellow fellow!

I don't want nuthin' black - but a Cadillac.

Kevin said...

Maybe they should have had the black women turn into a brown woman. Then the SJW's could have complained the ad was saying that no matter how hard the black woman tried, she would never be equal to a white woman.

Because there's always a racial angle there if you're determined to find one.

To quote Chris Rock: "Black people yelling "racism!" White people yelling "reverse racism!" Chinese people yelling "sideways racism!" And the Indians ain't yelling shit, 'cause they dead. So everybody bitching about how bad their people got it: nobody got it worse than the American Indian. Everyone needs to calm the fuck down."

urbane legend said...

Dove makes women take off their shirts? How many do most woman wear? From the picture, looks like at least two.

MaxedOutMama said...

Viral doofus marketing.

rhhardin said...

It's a boobs ad.

MathMom said...

IMHO, the worst part of the ad is that I don't know what it is supposed to mean. When you are selling something, should you spend your exceptionally large pile of advertising bucks on ads that make people go "Huh?"

Maybe the ad would have been fine if the redhead had peeled off her top and revealed herself to be Colin Kaepernick, though.

Biotrekker said...

THE AD IS A VIDEO. The still shot looks bad, but the video is inoffensive, just not very good as an advert IMO. Check out the actual video.

jaydub said...

"The Dove brand sheepishly admitted that it had “missed the mark” with a not-so-vaguely racist advertisement that has made it the latest target of consumer rage.I think that must be true. True and bad. But who could believe the alternative?"

Me for one. Seems that after actually looking at the video instead of just the out-of-context two screen shots, then going back to qualify what you said and soften your own remarks, you at least seem to be leaning toward the alternative yourself. It's a dumb ad, but it's not a not-so-vaguely racist ad by any stretch of the imagination for anyone who is not already predisposed to finding racism everywhere.

Laslo Spatula said...

I've read several comments that the video is innocuous --that the stills take it out of context.

We are living in a purposely context-free age.

Words out of context will be used against you.

Events out of context will be used against you.

Images out of context will be used against you.

Actions, inactions: context will be removed to produce a desired outcome.

rhhardin may be right: the only safe way to communicate may be Morse Code.

And even then I am suspicious.

I am Laslo.

Rusty said...

I would have loved to have been in the boardroom when this idea was pitched.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Probably just a ham handed attempt to convey that Dove Body Wash is good for every body.... every skin.

There could have been better ways to convey that message.

lonetown said...

I put it in the category of subliminal messaging in the sense that it evokes deep emotional desires and fears. It may have been unintentional but it should not be a surprise if when creating something we base it on our own stereotypes.

Its always a good hook to have something subliminally disturbing.

MadisonMan said...

I wonder if it's significant that toilet paper is invariably white.

It wasn't that way in the 70s.

Re: The Ad. If you don't know what's being sold by viewing the ad, then it's a bad ad.

Known Unknown said...

Anyone talking about Ivory soap today?

No?

Bad Lieutenant said...

I KNOW THE ANSWER!!!

The selection of the actresses was not based upon skin color,

But upon sexual exploitation/negotiation!

E.g.,

The second woman was going to be even blacker and more beautiful than the first, but the actress wouldn't let Don Draper watch her eat a banana, so at the last minute they subbed in the redhead, who was down for whatever.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Dyed toilet paper puts unnecessary, undesirable chemicals in the waste stream.

Humperdink said...

AA's headline: "How does an ad like this happen?"

Rachel Dolezal in reverse comes to mind.

cubanbob said...

Imagine if the Magno soap people had done the ad....and you can buy it from Ann's Amazon portal!

n.n said...

If you don't know what's being sold by viewing the ad, then it's a bad ad.

It's a poorly executed remake of the MJ music video, which was probably promoted by someone who grew up in the 70s and 80s and felt inspired by his work. The idea is to depict a shared woman's need for Dove products. Fortunately, it did not lower itself to the progressive standard of diversity that discriminates between individuals based on the color of their skin.

toilet paper is invariably white... It wasn't that way in the 70s.

Nearly half a century.

MadisonMan said...

Nearly half a century.

Don't remind me!

Jupiter said...

Bad Lieutenant said...
"Dyed toilet paper puts unnecessary, undesirable chemicals in the waste stream."

You have to bleach it to make it white. Which puts unnecessary, undesirable chemicals in the waste stream.

kevino said...

RE: "How does an ad like this happen?"
They chose . . . poorly.

Jupiter said...

kevino said...
RE: "How does an ad like this happen?"
"They chose . . . poorly."

The sorry bastards were probably trying to be "woke". Instead of making a "Hi, I'm a pretty white girl, don't you wish you looked like me?" ad, which is dull but safe and effective if taken as directed, they tried for some kind of Rainbow Models of Benetton effect. But they didn't realize that race is kryptonite, only blacks can handle it safely. We don't want your fucking condescension. We want your job, your car, your laptop, your phone and the house you live in.

Steven Wilson said...

Could we use sun tan lotion to reverse the process?
What's stupid is that no one at Dove saw this soap storm coming.

But, you know, it really wouldn't take all that much to break the back of the SJW's. Just some backbone in the right places to laugh at them and to to refuse to kowtow to their demands. They have gone beyond the point of parody. A firefighter fired for bringing watermelon to a firehouse in Detroit? People at the Onion must be experiencing that sinking sensation that they, like fast food workers, are being replaced by (mind numbed) robots.

McCackie said...

And frankly, the red head is very ordinary to look at.

stlcdr said...

"What's stupid is that no one at Dove saw this soap storm coming. "

Some people try not to look at everything through the lens of racial politics and racism. There's a whole industry in making sure it matters if your black or white, they just haven't indoctrinated everyone, yet.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Jupiter said...
Bad Lieutenant said...
"Dyed toilet paper puts unnecessary, undesirable chemicals in the waste stream."

You have to bleach it to make it white. Which puts unnecessary, undesirable chemicals in the waste stream.
10/9/17, 11:50 AM


Different chemicals, different stream.