Name: Phung Thi Hoang Anh
Student ID: 12420031
Class: Business Ethics EC
Professor: Rebecca Kim Chung-Hee
In 2017, Dove released a controversial advertisement where it depicts a dark skin
woman removing her top and changing into a white woman, unintentionally making it seems
like having fair skin is considered more beautiful and that if a black woman wants to feel
attractive, she would need to lighten her skin complex. The advertisement attracted massive
attention from viewers and the company later had to remove the ad and issued a public
apology. This isn’t the first time Dove has released a controversial commercial, back in 2011,
an ad from Dove also depicts discrimination against dark skin women.
These ads are highly unethical and go against the Advertising Standards Authority
which stated ads should not cause serious or widespread offense or provoke any
inappropriate behavior. Advertisements are a means of communication between the
company and the consumers, they are the face of the enterprise. Yet, by delivering such
ads, it showed the company’s unprofessionalism, insensitivity and lack of attention to the
society’s problems. Racial discrimination has been a sensitive topic for years and it is a
negative stereotypes to consider fair skin is the standard of beauty. Furthermore, what is
more concerning is that people to watch and listen to these sort of advertisements and would
falsely interpret themselves as not enough or inferior to others, there would be people who
would look down on others just base on these socially undesirable stereotypes. According to
Erich Joachimsthaler, the CEO of the branding-strategy firm Vivaldi Partners (2017), “Dove's
brand has been built on this unique and well-communicated belief system, and this ad
undermines the very brand value for which Dove stands.", the very campaign Dove had
been running “Real Beaty” emphasized on the beauty and diversity of women, yet the
“racist” message they deliver contradict everything Dove had build over the past years.
In my opinion, it is appropriate for them to issue a public apology and take down said
ad, though they did address the problem on their social media platforms, The Washing Post
pointed out that the company declined to speak further of the issues more in-depths and give
an explanation and refuse to speak with the prez. This action made the situation even worst
and made the image of the company more malicious in the eyes of the consumers. Dove
should take action to show the audience that they stand by what their values are. The
parents company should give an explanation public media and could have deliver a more
honest apology to the audience who have been affected by the commercial. They could
donate parts of their product revenue to organizations that support minor ethnicities and
support events or movements of said topics. In conclusion, companies need to be aware of
what they put out to the community, in order to attract consumers, it is important to ensure
the message being delivered is informative and free of unethical practices.
Reference:
Jr., C. R. W. (2021, October 23). A Dove ad showed a black woman turning herself white.
the backlash is growing. The Washington Post. Retrieved November 3, 2022, from
[Link]
a-black-woman-turning-herself-white-sparks-consumer-backlash/
Taylor, K. (n.d.). Dove is facing boycotts for an ad many people say is racist - and it's
happened before. Business Insider. Retrieved November 3, 2022, from
[Link]