Skincare brand Nivea has been slammed for an advert that shows former Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MBGN), Omowunmi Akinnifesi, using their products to lighten her skin.
The advert for Nivea’s Natural Fairness shows the 30-year-old’s complexion changing as she applies the skin cream, boasting that it had made it “visibly lighter”.
Since its appearance in several African countries, Nivea has been slammed on social media and accused of racism, with some calling for a boycott.
The TV advert and accompanying billboards have appeared across Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon and Senegal.
Akinnifesi is seen boasting that “visibly fairer skin” makes her feel “younger”.
Social media users across the world have been expressing their anger and called for Nivea to remove the adverts.
London entrepreneur William Adoasi wrote on Twitter: “This is why black businesses need to rise up and cater for our needs.
“Nivea can’t get away with pushing this skin lightening agenda across Africa. Appalling.”
British artist Fuse ODG, full name Nana Richard Abiona, posted an image on his Instagram, writing: ‘Kindly take down these billboards you have placed all over our beloved countries in Africa.
“I saw this one with my own eyes today in Ghana and we love our complexion the way it is. And if you don’t take these down. We will.
“Every African everywhere should stop buying any Nivea product. Tag the Nivea branch from your country so they understand how foolish this is!”
Their sentiments were echoed by hundreds on Twitter and Instagram, while others have pointed out that if the demand was not there for skin-lightening products, Nivea would not be selling them.
This comes on the back of a Dove advert which was accused of being racist because it showed a black woman taking of a skin coloured t-shirt to reveal a white woman.
The model in the clip later defended Dove, saying it was being perceived as racist because it had been taken out of context and did not show the whole advert which showed women of many skin colours changing into each other.
