August 21, 2025
The UK has banned a shower gel commercial accused of displaying Black skin as “problematic.”
The United Kingdom has decided to ban a shower gel ad that seemed to imply white skin is “superior” to Black skin.
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned a Sanex shower gel TV ad after investigating two complaints that it promoted negative stereotypes about people with darker skin tones, the Independent reports. ASA ruled that the ad appeared to suggest that Black skin is “problematic” and white skin is “superior.”
The ad, which debuted in June, featured a voiceover saying, “To those who might scratch day and night. To those whose skin will feel dried out even by water,” while showing a Black woman with red scratch marks and another coated in a cracked, clay-like substance.
The commercial then shows a white woman using the product in the shower, accompanied by a voiceover saying, “Try the new Sanex Skin Therapy with its patented amino acid complex for 24-hour hydration.” It concludes with both text and voiceover stating, “Relief could be as simple as a shower.”
Colgate-Palmolive’s UK division, which owns the Sanex brand, defended the ad, saying that it did not reinforce negative racial stereotypes and simply showed a “before and after” effect. The company explained that the models were meant to demonstrate the product’s effectiveness for all skin types and that the darker-skinned model’s tone was never intended to be a focal point.
However, the ASA ruled that using different skin tones to illustrate a “before and after” effect created a negative comparison and could perpetuate harmful racial stereotypes.
The ad was “structured in such a way that it was the Black skin 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,” the ASA stated.
Although the ad wasn’t intended to disparage Black skin, the ASA found it “likely to reinforce the negative and offensive racial stereotype that Black skin is problematic and white skin is superior.”
“We concluded that the ad included a racial stereotype and was therefore likely to cause serious offence,” the watchdog group said.
RELATED CONTENT: Black Workers Sue Walmart, Alleging Discriminatory Background Check Practices
