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MANILA, Philippines – Criticisms against a recent ad of the Belo Group for its men’s line are piling up, with comments highlighting faux pas already committed by other beauty brands in recent past.
On Sunday, July 1, comments on the beauty business’s Facebook wall had some calling the campaign for the whitening products as “insensitive,” “stupid,” and “insulting.” On Twitter, it was described as “social-climber-ish” and “biased against fair skin.”
The ads feature a man — who now has whiter skin — as more successful and socially accepted. See the screengrabs of the ads and the comments below:
One netizen who thought the viral publicity tactic may work, despite the “insulting” message, suggested not to share the image to other social media users.
Social media went abuzz hours before the Belo Men Twitter party scheduled on the same day. Tickets to the FHM 100 Sexiest party will be given out during the event.
Here’s how some netizens reacted:
Campaigns gone wrong
Belo’s ad comes on the heels of another campaign-gone-wrong.
The “What’s Your Mix?” campaign of clothing line Bayo featuring Filipinos with foreign roots has been generally considered an “epic fail” (Internet slang that means “total failure”).
Filipinos have been more vigilant against advertisements that suggest, imply or even hint of a message that lighter skin is better.
This, however, didn’t stop Executive Optical to feature on its billboard along Edsa this image:
Just like its predecessors, EO’s wit-turned-ugly “message” also angered netizens and got in the news.
People wonder: why do some billboards continue to be racist?
We want to know your opinion. What do you think of this ad? Share your comments with us below. – Rappler.com
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