Why The Dove Commercial Was Racist

There are some of you out there wondering what the fuss was concerning the Dove commercial ans why it was getting put on blast across the Net.

Time for a quick history lesson.

Blackface has been used to demean, denigrate and disrespect Black people for over a century.   And part of that anti-Blackness campaign was using that imagery in advertising campaigns .

And when those derogatory images were used in the soap commercials of the late 19th and early 20th century, they usually showed the product turning a dark skinned person white. 



That's why the Dove commercial  was offensive despite the message they were trying to send.   If they had not gone to the white woman after the Black woman  in the commercial, they probably would have dodged the uncomfortable 21st century version of the old racist 'wash the Black off you' soap commercials they ended up with.

It also speaks to who was in the room when they came up with the concept of this commercial.  There obviously either weren't any Black folks in the room, or ones familiar with this problematic racist history when they came up with the concept for it.

And because of the overwhelming whiteness of the advertising industry, I suspect that was the case, and there was  no culturally competent person in the room.

Leiomy's Nike 'Be True' Commercial

Was happy to hear about and see the Nike commercial that vogue icon and dancer Leiomy Maldonado recently was featured in

The Bronx native is so well known in the dance world there's a signature dance move she created called the Leiomy Lolly that both Beyonce and Willow Smith have borrowed for their videos.

The 'Wonder Woman of Vogue' has stayed busy since that appearance as the leader of the Vogue Evolution team on the America's Best Dance Crew show back in 2009.

In addition to this Nike commercial, she's was also recently featured in this high energy one for Kimpton Hotels and their 'Let's Never Stop Dancing' campaign.



So I was exceedingly pleased and proud to see her in this Nike commercial to promote their Be True' line in which she was not only recognized as the legendary trailblazing talent she is, but also as an athlete.

Because lets be real, you have to be in serious shape to do the things she does on a dance floor and look good as she does doing it.

I'm also proud of seeing a trans woman of color and trans Latina featured in this Nike commercial, and I'm so looking forward to meeting this legendary woman someday.

Enough jibber jabber from me, here's the ad.

Nike 'Unlimited Courage' Commercial Featuring Chris Mosier

Chris Mosier is a trans masculine triathlete who made history in 2015 when he qualified for the USA duathlon team for the 2016 World Championships.

Chris has also been one of the folks fighting for policies that will allow trans people to compete in sports on the local , national and international arena, and founded TransAthlete.com, which is a comprehensive website focused on trans inclusion in athletics.

Nike recently aired a commercial featuring Mosier entitled 'Unlimited Courage'

Gatorade Commercial With Prophetic Young Serena Statement

An interesting Gatorade commercial  has been airing in which a young Serena Williams is being interviewed by a reporter who asks her an interesting question

"If you were a tennis player, who would you want to be like?"

The commercial when shows video from different points of her amazing career before it cuts back to young Serena giving her answer to the reporter's question.

Check out the video...

Two M&M Ms. Brown Commercials

I love the M&M commercials featuring their new spokescandy and Chief Chocolate Officer Ms..Brown, who is voiced by one of my fave triple threat talents in singer-actress Vanessa L. Williams.

Here are two of the latest M&M spots featuring Ms. Brown 

IKEA Apologizes For Transphobic Thai Commercial

The Swedish based furniture giant IKEA is one of my fave places to shop for furniture, and it's where I bought much of my furniture for my first apartment back in the 90's.   One of those IKEA pieces I purchased back then at their Katy Freeway store is my current computer desk that has held up quite well through multiple moves.  

IKEA has had a positive reputation in the past for some positive trans inclusive commercials, so it was a shock to me when I read about this IKEA Thailand holiday one the Thai Transgender Alliance was protesting because of the stereotypical way the transwoman was portrayed. 

The commercial shows a couple strolling through an IKEA store when her voice suddenly goes into a masculine range that outs her as trans.  Her date then distances himself from her and eventually runs away from her as she continues to happily shop for IKEA products. 

As Reuters reported in terms of the brewing controversy, "The 20-second commercial shown on YouTube and on Bangkok's trains in December and January entitled 'Luem Aeb' ('Forget to Keep Hidden'), was disrespectful to transsexuals, according to the Thai Transgender Alliance and demanded an explanation from IKEA.





IKEA opened their first store in Thailand in November 2011 and the advertisement was part of a group of commercials for a holiday sale. 

The January 9 Thai Transgender Alliance complaint resulted in conversations with IKEA Thailand marketing officials that resulted in the apology letter the Thai Transgender Alliance posted on their Facebook page.

For those of you who are wondering why that commercial upset our Thai transisters and the international trans community, once again it played upon as the punchline for the humor in the ad the meme that trans women are people you are supposed to be fearful of or embarrassed to be around.  That is dehumanizing to Thai transwomen and their sisters around the globe.

And the dehumanization of transwomen is nothing to laugh at, especially in a commercial   .

Trans Themed Commercials IV

As I find them on YouTube, I'll continue to post trans themed commercials on TransGriot from around the world and especially the uplifting ones when I run across them.

Thai Wacoal bra ad with Thai trans women models 



Israeli commercial

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