I don’t understand why it’s considered offensive to be honest. If it had been a caucasian man in the ad, with the exact same caption, nobody would have cared. The race card is all too frequently pulled out IMHO.

Some people on twitter lost the head ;)

Intimating black men with afros are uncivilized… Who could have a problem with that? I can’t wait for the Irish campaign: buck toothed, bushy red-haired and be-freckled yokel is entreated to "un-muck savage yourself". :)

Why is it racist if it was a long curly haired white man the add is perfectly fine.

I’m absolutely fed up of this "it’s racist" How come it’s never racist if it’s a white person.

Probably one of those Ryanair style ‘oops we made a mistake, but look at our brand & here’s a reminder of our products’ PR stunts. Lovely.

For feck sake people are quare easily offended go grow a pair

White guys have names like Lenny, black guys have names like Karl ;-)

How that ad get out there without someone ringing big red alarm bells is staggering, even the dumbest person can see how this is going to offend some people. I work in the creative sector and i’m no PC nut but that’s a real shocker!

At the end of the day who is the winner here? A cosmetic company selling moisturiser to men that don’t need it. The basic trust of the add is that all men are not civilised unless we use their product. My gripe with all this stuff is that it’s undermining masculinity. I’m all on for men being clean and week groomed but this lark of guys waxing and shaping their eyebrows is a fashion constructed by vested interests. If the subject was a woman you would not just have the racist argument but also the feminist argument. Why the ….. should anybody have to conform to the Nivea ideal???

We might find it racist if it was a similar head to that of Luke Kelly being swung by the likes of Ryan Tubridy

Of course it’s racist. It wasn’t that long ago that African Americans were considered so uncivilised that they had to sit at the back of the bus, couldn’t attend white schools and occupied the lowest rungs of society. Many would argue, for shame, that they still do. So don’t compare this to what would happen if a white person was in the ad. It was a black person – racial segregation is still fresh in the social psyche there and you can’t expect to get away with portraying the natural image of a black man as uncivilised just like "the old days". Probably mot the best analogy but Imagine hypothetically what would happen if the British Army brought out a similar add in Ireland portraying a GAA playing redhead Irish farmer in a similar light. "Re-civilise yourself" indeed. Many people would understandably be hurt and angered. How would your ‘equality’ arguments hold up then? They might say "but if it was an English person nobody would say anything". And they would be right. Nobody would object just as nobody would object to a white man in this ad. You have to take it in context and not impose your reality on the situation. The fact is it has upset and angered thousands of black people for which the company was quick to spot and apologize for. Live with it.
/rant :)

Capitulation. The only mistake that was made here.

If people strive for equality, reflect on the situation if it were a white guy. Any offence there? No? Good.

If we want to discuss civilisation, let us do so when for example, incarceration figures per capita reach an equal balance to that “they” tell us is the ideal.

These fuckers would sell "Honky" whitening cream if they thought they could make money out of it.

I find this really offensive! It is not appropriate and it’s not right, simple as that. Afro hair is beautiful!