Re-civilize Yourself
Re-Civilize Yourself Businesses often seek to present a certain “brand” or “look,” and may hire only people who fit in. Some businesses can also impose grooming requirements that restrict self-expression and can sometimes hold men and women to different standards. Some people may think that most of Nivea's skin care products are for women, but they actually do have a line for men. Most of their advertising usually targets females, but in August 2011, they put out an offensive ad aimed at African American men in the men's magazine Esquire. Nivea must have a serious lack of diversity on their marketing team, because there is no other explanation for why an ad like this got approved. The ad by Nivea shows an African American man with short hair and a clean face, wearing a sweater and a button-up. He's winding up to hurl a mask portraying a black man with an afro and a beard. The caption reads "Look Like You Give A Damn. Re-civilize Yourself." This ad is aiming toward an audience of young African American men who probably struggle with individuality and peer approval. The ad is showing that having an afro and a beard as a Black person in the United States is uncivilized and looks as if you do not care which in a way is racist. The message seems pretty clear, natural hair on a black man isn't a style preference or an interest in afrocentrism, it's simply uncivilized. But how can they advertise that a certain look is uncivilized, and out of all the types of people they could have used, they used an African American. Also, who said that having a beard and an afro is saying that you don’t give a damn? Some young men think that having a beard may make them look more mature and older. Then again, the choice of words Nivea used, “Re-civilize” is controversial as it is. At the end of the day the company Nivea stated on their Facebook page, "Thank you for caring enough to give us your feedback about the recent 'Re-civilized' NIVEA FOR MEN ad. This ad was inappropriate