Nivea never learns.

You may remember that in 2011, the skin care giant put out this ad, featuring a black man about to toss away an afroed head along with the copy, “Re-civilize Yourself.”

 

Photo: Nivea

Now, six years later, having performed the obligatory apologies and genuflections, Nivea is back with a new deodorant ad overlaid with the text, “White Is Purity.”

 

Photo: Nivea 

The ad was posted only to Nivea’s Middle East page; The New York Times reports that anti-Semites and the alt-right were quick to champion the image, with one 4Chan user writing in a racist forum, “Nivea has chosen our side." 

As anyone who has seen Nivea’s line of skin whitening lotions abroad can tell you, it would certainly seem that the company has.

As with Pepsi and their Black Lives Matter boondoggle, Nivea was quick to offer an apology, “We are deeply sorry to anyone who may take offense to this specific post. Diversity and equal opportunity are crucial values of Nivea.”

Twitter was less than impressed with the apology:

And really, who can blame all those tweeters? Only six years until the next racist Nivea campaign. See you all then.

AdvertisingNiveaPepsirace and politicsskincareWhite Is Purity