Black Twitter Blasts Nivea For Skin-Lightening Lotion Ad

Source: Thos Robinson / Getty

Clearly Nivea didn’t learn a damn thing from Dove’s little fiasco over a week ago!
On Wednesday, a commercial and print ad surfaced online featuring a new skin lightening lotion the body care company sells in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Senegal, The New York Post reported.

The “Natural Fairness Lotion” ad tells Black women that their product can help “restore her skin to its natural fairness.”
“Now, I have visibly fairer skin, making me feel younger,” the Black model says.
Welp!
London entrepreneur William Adoasi slammed the TV commercial, sharing a clip of it online: “This is why Black businesses need to rise up and cater for our needs.

People swiftly took to Twitter to blast this anti-Black sentiment and snatch Nivea’s edges all the way off:

Folks also pointed out that this is a complicated issue.
See, skin bleaching is an estimated 20 billion dollar industry around the world, being especially popular in African, Asian and Caribbean countries. According to Business Insider, 70 percent of women in Nigeria alone are using a lightening product. So it’s pretty clear: There’s a high demand for a product like this one:

But regardless of the existence of colorism and the sad desire for lighter skin, Nivea shouldn’t be exploiting that for a buck and DEFINITELY not at the expense of Black women.
Not surprisingly, this isn’t Nivea’s first offensive ad. Earlier this year it was reported that the company dropped a questionable ad that equated “white” with “purity.”
The ad read: “Keep it clean, keep bright. Don’t let anything ruin it, #Invisible.”
Yeah, they tried it.

Nivea nor their parent Beiersdorf have released a public statement about this current controversy.