Advertising<\/a> Standards Authority (ASA) acted after investigating two complaints that the Sanex fed negative stereotypes about people with darker skin tones.<\/p>\nThe ad, broadcast in June, included a voiceover that said: \u201cTo those who might scratch day and night. To those whose skin will feel dried out even by water,\u201d alongside scenes of a black woman with red scratch marks and another covered with a cracked clay-like material.<\/p>\n
The ad then showed a white woman taking a shower with the product, and stated: \u201cTry to take a shower with the new Sanex skin therapy and its patented amino acid complex. For 24-hour hydration feel.\u201d It ended with text and the voiceover stating: \u201cRelief could be as simple as a shower.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UK arm of Colgate-Palmolive, the $68bn (\u00a354.4bn) US consumer goods group that owns the Sanex brand, argued that its ad did not perpetuate negative racial stereotypes and was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.<\/p>\n
It said the ad illustrated a \u201cbefore and after\u201d effect, and that the models demonstrated the product was suitable and effective for everyone. It told the regulator that when the model with darker skin was depicted, her skin tone was not a focal point.<\/p>\n
Another screengrab from the Sanex advert. Photograph: ASA\/PA<\/p>\n
Clearcast, a body that approves or rejects ads for broadcast on television, also argued that the Sanex ad did not perpetuate negative racial stereotypes but demonstrated the product\u2019s inclusivity.<\/p>\n
However, the ASA said the use of different skin colours as a means of portraying a \u201cbefore and after\u201d created a negative comparison.<\/p>\n
The watchdog said the ad was \u201cstructured in such a way that it was the black skin \u2026 which was shown to be problematic and uncomfortable, whereas the white skin, depicted as smoother and clean after using the product, was shown successfully changed and resolved\u201d.<\/p>\n
The ASA added that although it understood that message was not intended and may pass unnoticed by some viewers, it considered \u201cthe ad was likely to reinforce the negative and offensive racial stereotype that black skin was problematic and that white skin was superior.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe concluded that the ad included a racial stereotype and was therefore likely to cause serious offence,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
The regulator told Colgate-Palmolive that it must not show the ads again in their current form \u201cto ensure they avoided causing serious offence on the grounds of race\u201d. Colgate-Palmolive was approached for comment.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week the ASA issued a plea to advertisers to stop using \u201cirresponsible\u201d images of unhealthily thin-looking models<\/a>. In 2024 it received 61 complaints about the size of models in adverts, and it has reported that 45% of the public are concerned about ads that include idealised body images of women.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A television advert for Sanex shower gel has been banned in the UK for appearing to suggest that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[51,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-358609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115059386208270433","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}