Thai skin-whitening TV ad causes uproar

Thai internet users have slammed a skin-whitening advertisement that claims 'to win, you just have to be white', as racist.

A still from a Thai advertisement for a skin whitening product.

A still from a Thai advertisement for a skin whitening product. The ad has been slammed as racist. Source: YouTube

Internet users in Thailand have taken to social media to protest a skin-whitening ad that they regard as racist.

The ad features a celebrity talking about her struggles in the entertainment world and how she must work to keep her skin light - to stay atop the industry.

The ad ends with the celebrity in black-face and the tag line, "to win, you just have to be white".

Internet users took to message boards, Twitter and Facebook to voice their displeasure.
"This is some serious sickness, the worst kind of commercial," one person posted.

"Thai celebs are among the worst propagators of such harmful ideals," tweeted Kaewmala, an author and commentator.

The ad, featuring Thai actress Cris Horwang, had more than 84,000 views on YouTube as of Friday morning with more than 3400 dislikes and only 100 likes.

Lighter skin colour is often idealised in Thai society where it is associated with wealth and beauty.

It is not the first time that a skin-whitening ad has caused uproar in Thailand.

In 2012, an ad for a skin-whitening product for a woman's genitals also caused much consternation among internet users.

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2 min read

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Source: DPA



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