Dove Ad Suggest Light Skin Is Better Than Dark Skin

Check out this Dove Body Wash ad that has stirred up some controversy on the net. I would like to know what you guys think. No the ad is not fake, it can be seen on Dove’s official website. “Visibly more beautiful skin” is what the ad is promoting while there are three women placed in the ad. The before is a black woman with curly hair, the middle is a tan skinned woman with dark hair and the after is a white woman with blonde hair. After reading my description of the ad, I am sure you all are saying “Thats Racist!” A statement was released about that ad, stating that each woman represents the after result of using Dove Body Wash. Now this maybe so but the ad is giving a mixed message. I think its clear someone did a bad job at getting the message across. Check out the statement below from Dove’s PR firm.

“We believe that real beauty comes in many shapes, sizes, colors and ages and are committed to featuring realistic and attainable images of beauty in all our advertising. We are also dedicated to educating and encouraging all women and girls to build a positive relationship with beauty, to help raise self-esteem and to enable them to realize their full potential.

The ad is intended to illustrate the benefits of using Dove VisibleCare Body Wash, by making skin visibly more beautiful in just one week. All three women are intended to demonstrate the “after” product benefit. We do not condone any activity or imagery that intentionally insults any audience.”

Spotted @Gawker