Heineken is the most recent offender in the racist advertisement epidemic. They’ve come under fire for a video in which a white bartender gawks at a light-skinned woman about to drink a glass of wine and slides a bottle of light beer down the bar towards her. The bottle passes several dark-skinned black people on the way, and as the light-skinned woman picks up the beer to drink it, the words, “Sometimes, lighter is better” flash across the screen.
Heineken is a massive, multinational corporation. It’s hard to believe that not a single person in the company noticed the advertisement’s racist overtones. Chance the Rapper made the point on Twitter that this was likely just a publicity move: “I think some companies are purposely putting out noticably [sic] racist ads so they can get more views. And that shit racist/bogus so I guess I shouldn’t help by posting about it,” he wrote.
In addition to being overtly racist, the advertisement is also sexist — the bartender looks shocked that a thin, light-skinned woman would dare to drink a high-calorie glass of wine (gasp! A woman who isn’t on a diet!) and responds by giving her a 99-calorie light beer she didn’t ask for.
Heineken offered a lukewarm apology after removing the ad from the company YouTube page, The Root reports. The ad can still be viewed below because the internet is forever.
top photo: YouTube
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