Thursday, October 12, 2017

See Why NY State Senator James Sanders Wants Dove To Raise Its Marketing Game To Black Consumers

Get The Scoop Weekly On Southeast Queens. Subscribe to Our Mailing List. Receive the Latest Events, News, Jobs, and Top Community Economic Development Stories Like this one Click Here
-------
By NY State Senator James Sanders

Dove Needs To Wash Out Its Mouth With Soap Until It Can Clean Up Its Act



Here we go again. Dove, a company that produces products aimed at supposedly improving the look and condition of skin has besmirched black people about their skin with racist advertising.

Dove posted on Facebook a series of four photos demonstrating a black woman pulling a brown shirt over her head and turning into a smiling white woman looking smug with satisfaction.  It seemed to imply that with Dove products one could change their skin color as easily as removing a shirt. The problem is it equates black skin with something dirty, something that needs to be cleaned and made better, and that black people want to be white.

The company later tweeted that it had “missed the mark,” and the ad has since been removed.
If this were the first time Dove had made such a mistake maybe we could attribute it to a careless PR team, but it is not. In fact, about 2 years ago, I took the company to task over the racist labeling of one of its products – Summer Glow Nourishing Lotion. On the bottle, it stated that the product was intended for “Normal to Dark Skin.” Since the opposite of normal is abnormal, I wondered whether it was Dove’s position that dark skin is abnormal.

So I sent a letter of outreach to Unilever, which is Dove’s parent company to express my outrage and propose they offer scholarships to young people of color, who were preparing for careers in the marketing field so that Dove could avoid making such mistakes in the future An apology is simply not enough. It wasn’t then and it isn’t know. If they would have offered the scholarships, I told them I would publicly thank them on the senate floor for this act of good faith.

They did not take me up on my offer, but they should have, then maybe this continuing pattern of racism may have been averted.

In Unilever’s response letter to me following the Summer Glow fiasco, it assured me that “Dove is committed to creating a world where beauty is a source of confidence, not anxiety, for women and girls everywhere.” And yet, here we are again, in a situation way worse than before where Dove equates dark skin with something that is unclean. At least with Nourishing Glow they blamed the error on a label language mix-up with their foreign team.

Dove claims it has spent $19 million on a Self-Esteem Project that it launched in 2004, which it says aims to “help the next generation of women grow up feeling happy and confident about the way they look.” Maybe they should be using some of that money to make sure they have a diverse and racially sensitive corporate leadership team.

I recently reached out to Unilever again regarding the Facebook skin change post, mainly to try and find out how this could have happened after the company promised to be more careful and to find out what they were going to do (beyond an apology) to make things right for all the people they hurt. I have not heard back from them yet.

I think it’s foolish for any self-respecting person of any color to use Dove products until the company cleans up its act, and if I was a shareholder I would have questions.


Checkout Similar Articles Below



Share 

Don't Miss Important Info On Our Community.  Get the Scoop On Southeast QueensDiscover the Latest News, Events, Jobs, Bargains, and Economic Developments Just Once a Week. Sign Up for the Southeast Queens Scoop eZine. Subscribe Click Here

Boost Your Business reaching over 20,500 Southeast Queens residents a month on the Southeast Queens Scoop. Get the Scoop On Promoting Your Business Click




> Enjoy Delicious Speciality Pizzas

> Tasty Pasta and Italian Dishes

> Sumptuous Healthy Salads, and So Much More.

Order Delivery or Pick Up From Highly Rated Farmers Pizza Click Here


----------------------------------------

Are You Looking To Sell Your Home Fast?

Do You Have Problems with a Foreclosure, Tax Lien, Or Water Bill Action?

We can Buy Your Home Fast With Cash. Visit Wholesale Investor


---------------------------------

Own Beautiful Fine and Cultural Art or Photography

Beautify Your Home and Accentuate Your Life - Discover Exceptional Black Art, Get Exclusive Custom Framing, and Receive Expert Photography from Renowned Local Artist Click Here





Beautify Your Home and Accentuate Your Life - Discover Exceptional Black Art, Get Exclusive Custom Framing, and Receive Expert Photography from Renowned Local Artist Click Here



Posted by community events coordinator, Nzinga Lonstein Austin, is a prolific blogger who writes on the entertainment industry and issues for people with developmental and physical challenges.

She is presently in high school looking to have a career in video, film, and media. You can see more of her entertainment writing on Lonstein Movies.


About the Southeast Queens Scoop - is the premier website and only publication offering daily news and updates on the events, culture, issues, and is dedicated to the business and economic development in this largely black historic community.

The publication targets the over 350,000 residents in the Southeast Queen and Jamaica Queens area. It promotes to over 40,000 potential viewers in social media, mobile devices and search engines like Google and Bing!  To learn more about how to promote your business or organization on the Scoop or online Click Here


 No Spam Only The Scoop On Southeast Queens

No comments:

Post a Comment