Read more: Puma accused of defacing Indian heritage building with graffiti Still, the publicity specialists apparently didn't realize that playing around with black-white clichés was pretty tasteless. Another wrote: 'It's unbelievable that someone could produce such an ad without thinking for a second how problematic it could be.' There was 'zero intercultural competence and sensitivity' to be found in the campaign, said another commentator.įerrero issued a public apology and stressed that the clip was in no way intended to xenophobic. 'One of the most racist ads I have seen this year,' someone wrote on Facebook. What was supposed to be the 'tastiest comeback of the year' ended up evoking a maelstrom, both in the newspapers as well as on social media. They based their clip on Barack Obama's presidential election campaign slogan: an animated Ferrero box of chocolates spoke in front of a lively audience, saying 'Yes weiß can' (Yes white can) rather than Obama's 'Yes we can,' was well as 'Germany votes white.' So, when it came to promoting the new creation, the publicity strategists had their eye on the upcoming Bundestag elections.

In addition, there had been an innovation in terms of taste: the brown chocolate praline was to be covered in white chocolate. The marketing department had demanded a 'rejuvenating cure' for promoting the classic praline since the old one showing young people inviting each other to a 'little kiss' had become stale. It's all the more surprising, then, that one of the world's largest sweets producers - Italian company Ferrero - kicked off an advertising campaign in 2013 that boasted the slogan 'Germany chooses white.' For instance, Germans used to refer to a popular chocolate-coated marshmallow treat as the 'Negerkuss' ('Negro's Kiss'). Nowadays, the politically correct name is 'Chocolate Kiss' or 'Foam Kiss.' And there's still the question whether the company lanced the campaign to grab attention, along the lines of 'bad advertising is good advertising.'įor quite a long time, advertising with racist undertones was common, as were particular names for products. H&M has meanwhile retracted the ad and apologized, but a sense of distaste remains. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video H&M 'racist' ad backlash leads to closure of stores in South Africa

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