Brazilian company slammed for ‘Black is Beautiful’ campaign
The slogan accompanied a white actress wrapped in the advertised product: black toilet paper. One writer called the move ‘racist and irresponsible.’
Some marketing slogans shouldn’t go beyond an agency’s boardroom.
Brazilian company Santher gave PR and marketing pros a recent example after it faced backlash for a campaign highlighting its luxury black toilet paper.
The company released a Personal VIP Black toilet paper ad featuring Brazilian actress Marina Ruy Barbosa — who is white-skinned, green-eyed and a redhead — wrapped up in nothing but swaths of the dark-colored paper.
The image was accompanied by the campaign’s tagline: “Black is beautiful.”
“Black is beautiful” became a popular slogan in the late ’60s and early ’70s during the Black Power movement, defined by the rise of leaders like Stokely Carmichael and Angela Davis and groups like the Black Panthers and the Nation of Islam.
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