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"If you’re black, you’ll never win anyone’s heart"

U

UnemployedVillain

Member
Jun 27, 2015
12,540
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345
Ever see something so egregiously racist, you almost do a double take at the sheer audacity of it? Well this ad takes the cake.



http://www.playground.plus/news/if-...om&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=skin-bleacher

Looks of disgust. Women covering their faces. A king eyeing his black suitor with displeasure. He then exclaims ‘Oh my Gosh!' as he looks on in disbelief. The Malaysian beauty retailer, Watsons, has been accused of racism after posting this advert that lasts more than 14 minutes.

It shows a woman, ‘cursed' with having dark skin, who aspires to win over the king and be chosen from a retinue of white women. The king initially rejects her, as her black skin is unacceptable in the palace. But later, the black woman reveals that it was all just a trick to test the king.

She is, in fact, light-skinned and has painted herself. Only after washing away her dark skin does the king recognise and fall in love with her.

‘I'm not black, in fact I am flawless,' the girl tells him.
Click to expand...

Apparently, the brand, Watson, didn't realize it was offensive

"We are sorry that some of our fans feel offended by the video which was not our intention," reads the statement on Facebook, by way of an apology.
Click to expand...


How could any rationally thinking person not instantly realize, from the moment conception of the idea, let alone when it was filmed, that this would be offensive?
 
N

_Nemo

Member
Jun 9, 2013
1,648
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365
Black people are damn hot. Like, I'm gay for that main character from Get Out.
 
S

shawnbuddy

Member
Jul 28, 2015
3,109
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It's an ad for a skin bleacher, though. Here's an honest question. Isn't the product itself racist? Is there a non-racist way to advertise a product that promises you'll be more beautiful and successful because it'll give you lighter skin?
 
J

JonnyDBrit

Member
May 14, 2015
7,470
5
0
Old topic:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1387601

But still kinda shit. Even if you take the argument that it's based on an old legend - that of Dayang Senandong specifically - which isn't necessarily rooted in racism towards actual black people (which is kinda hard to say because Indian Ocean trade from East Africa did kinda reach SEA), it should have been considered how such a literal translation would damn well look in a modern context. Otherwise, it's just plain racist, which is even worse.

Edit: Beaten by Mike
 
U

UnemployedVillain

Member
Jun 27, 2015
12,540
2
345
shawnbuddy said:
It's an ad for a skin bleacher, though. Here's an honest question. Isn't the product itself racist? Is there a non-racist way to advertise a product that promises you'll be more beautiful and successful because it'll give you lighter skin?
Click to expand...

I guess they could market it as simply looking different, not necessarily better? I'm not a fan of skin bleachers or types of beauty standards they perpetuate so I'm not too concerned with the issues they have with non-offensive marketing. If they can't figure out a way, that should tell them something important about the product they're trying to sell
 
F

frontovik

Member
Nov 16, 2011
3,894
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720
Hasn't the marketing for South East Asians companies generally been racially insensitive towards black people?
 
I

IamDodongo

Member
Jan 21, 2015
992
0
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That is some amazingly racist, hurtful shit. Even their apology sucks.

Black is as beautiful as any other color
 
K

kirblar

Member
Oct 9, 2010
63,315
1
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You get halfway through that description, thinking it's a morality tale and then...nope. The opposite. Fucking hell.
 
T

traveler

Not Wario
Oct 22, 2006
14,563
0
0
At this point, I'm assuming anyone who writes some variant of "we're sorry you were offended" is purposefully looking to do more harm. You have to be either insincere or totally oblivious to the implications to use that- especially given all the scrutiny that particular phrase has earned half assed apologies over the past year.
 
G

Goldrush

Member
Apr 17, 2007
3,046
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It's crazy racist, but I could see how the message might have been completely missed in Asia where dark skin is about skin care rather than race.
 
F

Fixed2BeBroken

Member
Jun 8, 2004
11,232
1
0
traveler said:
At this point, I'm assuming anyone who writes some variant of "we're sorry you were offended" is purposefully looking to do more harm. You have to be either insincere or totally oblivious to the implications to use that- especially given all the scrutiny that particular phrase has earned half assed apologies over the past year.
Click to expand...

well if this was made in america, of course.

if this was made in india or wherever, I think they are probably less sensitive and more oblivious.
 
H

Hastati

Member
Feb 7, 2012
2,148
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Fixed2BeBroken said:
Their perspective and most of asia's perspective is Classism moreso than race.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree that classism is a huge issue but I don't think incidents like this should be divorced from racism. It's kind of a huge, ugly smorgasbord of hate that definitely constantly bleeds over in either direction.


your edit may be a better way of putting it
 
J

jph139

Member
Jun 29, 2012
4,523
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28
Weymouth, MA
This sort of thing makes me wonder about the relationship between hatred of dark skin - even within ethnically homogenous societies - and fundamentally binary "light vs. dark" morality systems. Both seem so universal. Is it really just an arbitrary coincidence?

Like, are there any societies where darkness is a positive symbol? Say, dark soil for fertility, black ink for knowledge, shadows for shelter from heat. And in such a society, would social hierarchy based on skin color develop?
 
E

EdibleKnife

Member
Oct 22, 2013
9,426
0
0
Texas
Goldrush said:
It's crazy racist, but I could see how the message might have been completely missed in Asia where dark skin is about skin care rather than race.
Click to expand...

So black/dark-skinned people are inherently people who don't have nice skinor take care of it? There's no spinning this. They believe black skin is an abomination and light skin is not, which is fucked. This isn't an isolated country. They know about the existence of people with inherently dark sink and created a commercial about how that is gross.
 
F

Fixed2BeBroken

Member
Jun 8, 2004
11,232
1
0
jph139 said:
This sort of thing makes me wonder about the relationship between hatred of dark skin - even within ethnically homogenous societies - and fundamentally binary "light vs. dark" morality systems. Both seem so universal. Is it really just an arbitrary coincidence?

Like, are there any societies where darkness is a positive symbol? Say, dark soil for fertility, black ink for knowledge, shadows for shelter from heat. And in such a society, would social hierarchy based on skin color develop?
Click to expand...

sadly....this lighter skin classism issue is even in Africa, the one place you'd assume it wouldn't be.

Inferno313 said:
Jesus. Anything will get a defense force on this site, huh?
Click to expand...

no one's defending it.
 
K

KillLaCam

Banned
Jan 6, 2017
1,883
0
0
Fixed2BeBroken said:
Their perspective and most of asia's perspective is Classism moreso than race.

Asia's racism stems from classism
Click to expand...
Yeah like this is still pretty offensive but I wish we included historical /cultural context in the OP of situations like this. Because understanding the situation is pretty important either way
 
T

Temeculan3000

Member
Sep 1, 2016
651
0
210
shawnbuddy said:
It's an ad for a skin bleacher, though. Here's an honest question. Isn't the product itself racist? Is there a non-racist way to advertise a product that promises you'll be more beautiful and successful because it'll give you lighter skin?
Click to expand...

Is the product itself racist? It's not like they invented the idea that lighter skin is more desirable. The ad is racist though, as it promotes that idea.

I don't think the product itself is racist on its own, but the marketing around it can be and the reason it has a market can be because of racism.
 
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