Thai company Seoul Secret recently pulled its latest commercial for skin-whitening pill Snowz after the ad, which featured a woman in blackface, sparked social media outrage.
Company representatives took the ad down from YouTube last Friday, reports Adweek, after a public outcry.
While such whitening products already send a concerning message about skin color, the commercial spelled it out loud and clear for viewers, suggesting that dark-skinned people are losers and employing the tagline: “You just need to be white to win.”
According to Reuters, users of the Thai-language forum Pantip.com were beside themselves.
“I'm perfectly fine being dark-skinned and now you're saying I've lost? Hello? What?” wrote Pantip member 1575141.
Another user put it as bluntly as possible: “Suggesting people with dark skin are losers is definitely racist.”
But while Seoul Secret may have come under fire from the Thai public, they want us all to know they're totally not racist.
“Our company did not have any intention to convey discriminatory or racist messages,” Seoul Secret wrote on Facebook, according to Adweek. “What we intended to convey was that self-improvement in terms of personality, appearance, skills and professionally is crucial.”
So...racist?
