Nivea Apologizes For Racist Afro Mask Ad

Nivea Apologizes For Racist “Re-Civilize Yourself” Afro Ad

Nivea has apologized for an advertisement they placed in Esquire that featured a clean cut African American male throwing a mask of a face with an Afro and beard with the title “Look Like You Give a Damn. Re-civilize Yourself.”

People quickly turned to social networking and Twitter to voice displeasure over the ad.

“The image isn’t going over well, particularly with those who think the head kind of looks like Cornel West. There is a white-man version, but there’s no talk of re-civilizing him,” AdWeek.com wrote today.

CNN reports:

Beiersdorf AG, the parent company of Nivea (which boasts singer Rihanna as one of its spokesmodels) released the following statement to CNN regarding the controversy:

“We are deeply sorry to anyone who may take offense to this specific local advertisement. After realizing that this ad is misleading, it was immediately withdrawn.”