Key Summary
- ASA banned a Sanex shower gel ad for breaching the broadcast code
- The ad was found to reinforce racial stereotypes by showing dark skin as flawed and white skin as flawless
- Colgate-Palmolive and Clearcast defended the ad, saying it showed “before and after” effects, not race
A television commercial for Sanex shower gel, owned by Colgate-Palmoive has been banned following complaints that it reinforces racial stereotypes about dark skin tone.
The ad broadcast in June had a tagline "relief could be as simple as a shower," and depicted dark skin as dry, cracked and itchy, while white skin was portrayed flawless.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned the ad stating it breached the broadcast code.
Two main complaints were raised against the Sanex ad for suggesting that white skin was superior to black skin.
The commercial shows a model with dark skin scratching her body, making bright orange, paint-like stripes with their fingertips. A voiceover says: "To those who might scratch day and night".
Another dark-skinned model is then seen covered in cracked, clay-like material, with a voiceover "to those whose skin will feel dried out even by water".
Then a white model is seen showering with water and foam moving over her skin which has no visible problems or graphics to suggest any.
The voiceover says, “Try to take a shower with the new Sanex skin therapy and its patented amino acid complex. For 24-hour hydration feel.”
The ASA banned the commercial and ruled that it has breached its broadcast code. It said the commercial suggests that white skin was superior to dark skin.
Colgate-Palmolive had argued that the commercial illustrated a “before and after” effect, and that the models demonstrated the product was suitable and effective for everyone. And skin tone was not the focus of the commercial.
Clearcast, the ad clearance service that approved the commercial, supported the brand and claimed that the advert did not perpetuate “negative racial stereotypes.”
