Racist Ad?

Inner Beauty

Inner Beauty

New Member
I found this on another site and thought I'd post it here:

nivea-ad_afro.jpg
 
BigBrotherWise said:
I don't see how that's racist. It's a black guy shedding away his old self.
Click to expand...

It's a black man getting "re-civilized" by the use of a product, which implies a lack of civilization prior. It's ah...in extremely poor taste, to say it as mildly as I possibly can put it.

Centuries of portrayal of black folk as "uncivilized" underlie the image.
 
Inner Beauty said:
I found this on another site and thought I'd post it here:

nivea-ad_afro.jpg
Click to expand...

Ham-fisted and borderline offensive but message is no different than Chris Rock's "Black people vs. Niggers" routine, or the Philly mayor telling hoodlums to pull up their pants. Basically telling you to get your shit together.

I question the decapitated Afro head however. Why such violent imagery? And to "re-civilize" basically says that negroes aren't civilized NOW.

Basically all they had to do was show a before/after ad and they'd send the same message.

White people are out of control with these coded racist messages these days.
 
TreePixie said:
It's a black man getting "re-civilized" by the use of a product, which implies a lack of civilization prior. It's ah...in extremely poor taste, to say it as mildly as I possibly can put it.

Centuries of portrayal of black folk as "uncivilized" underlie the image.
Click to expand...

*Ding* We've got a winner.
 
I think everyone's exaggerating the whole advertisement. Tell me, if you had a white guy throwing a his old self, which is a scruffy old homeless looking, ragged dude, would we all go up in arms screaming racism? I doubt it.

Using a black guy in that ad to promote a product and try and find underlying racism in there is nitpicking on everything. Yes, there are hidden elements in certain ads with racist tendencies, but how far are before we simply cry out those words each and every time? It's a hygienic product. It's consistent with the message regardless of color.

TreePixie said:
It's a black man getting "re-civilized" by the use of a product, which implies a lack of civilization prior. It's ah...in extremely poor taste, to say it as mildly as I possibly can put it.

Centuries of portrayal of black folk as "uncivilized" underlie the image.
Click to expand...
 
BigBrotherWise said:
I think everyone's exaggerating the whole advertisement. Tell me, if you had a white guy throwing a his old self, which is a scruffy old homeless looking, ragged dude, would we all go up in arms screaming racism? I doubt it.
Click to expand...

There isn't a history of images and descriptions of white men as uncivilized. It's not the same thing at all.
 
TreePixie said:
It's a black man getting "re-civilized" by the use of a product, which implies a lack of civilization prior. It's ah...in extremely poor taste, to say it as mildly as I possibly can put it.

Centuries of portrayal of black folk as "uncivilized" underlie the image.
Click to expand...

karmacoma. said:
Ham-fisted and borderline offensive but message is no different than Chris Rock's "Black people vs. Niggers" routine, or the Philly mayor telling hoodlums to pull up their pants. Basically telling you to get your shit together.

I question the decapitated Afro head however. Why such violent imagery? And to "re-civilize" basically says that negroes aren't civilized NOW.

Basically all they had to do was show a before/after ad and they'd send the same message.

White people are out of control with these coded racist messages these days.
Click to expand...

I think these sum up the whole thread....
 
BigBrotherWise said:
You never seen images of the KKK being depicted as uncivilized reactionaries?
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You're dancing around the issue just to prove a point.

You sound like those people who bring up Bush being portrayed as a monkey to say it's OK that Obama is portrayed as one. Even though blacks have a long history of being portrayed as monkeys as a racist insult.

The word is DISINGENUOUS.

Stop it.
 
That's an entirely different scenario. Obama being called a monkey is actually based on racism, where as Bush being compared to one is based on his lack of intelligence. That's something I won't dispute.

This advertisement doesn't scream racism to me, however. Unless the headless Afro guy has a bone sticking through his head, then I really don't see the reason why I should jump the bandwagon. If we keep crying foul on every little thing, then black models would be out of the job for just about everything.

karmacoma. said:
You're dancing around the issue just to prove a point.

You sound like those people who bring up Bush being portrayed as a monkey to say it's OK that Obama is portrayed as one. Even though blacks have a long history of being portrayed as monkeys as a racist insult.

The word is DISINGENUOUS.

Stop it.
Click to expand...
 
Its always hysterical to be called uncivilized by people who are responsible for count less deaths and the destruction of dozens of cultures and thousands of farmlands. How is any of the shit they do civilized lol
 
BigBrotherWise said:
That's an entirely different scenario. Obama being called a monkey is actually based on racism, where as Bush being compared to one is based on his lack of intelligence. That's something I won't dispute.

This advertisement doesn't scream racism to me, however. Unless the headless Afro guy has a bone sticking through his head, then I really don't see the reason why I should jump the bandwagon. If we keep crying foul on every little thing, then black models would be out of the job for just about everything.
Click to expand...

Oh look. You're still dancing.

A decapitated black head is GRUESOME. It evokes African head-hunters/pygmies.

"Re-civilize?"

Like I said, a side-by-side before/after would have gotten the same point across.

Just because it's a black guy in the ad doesn't mean it's not racist.
 
I compare something like this to the likes of Resident Evil 5 and the controversy surrounding it. In other words, people are just nitpicking at everything and creating something that doesn't belong.

Would you feel better if there wasn't a black guy in that ad and instead it's a white guy with a decapitated head of a hippy looking dude instead?

karmacoma. said:
Oh look. You're still dancing.

A decapitated black head is GRUESOME.

Like I said, a side-by-side before/after would have gotten the same point across.

Just because it's a black guy in the ad doesn't mean it's not racist.
Click to expand...
 
BigBrotherWise said:
That's an entirely different scenario. Obama being called a monkey is actually based on racism, where as Bush being compared to one is based on his lack of intelligence. That's something I won't dispute.

This advertisement doesn't scream racism to me, however. Unless the headless Afro guy has a bone sticking through his head, then I really don't see the reason why I should jump the bandwagon. If we keep crying foul on every little thing, then black models would be out of the job for just about everything.
Click to expand...

Dude you know words have power and why were the words re-civilize yourself. Why couldn't they have said show your best you or some other empowering phrase. I don't see that kind of negative campaigning else where. Just saying.
 
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