Last week Heineken Light released an ad which sees a bartender sliding down a bottle of Heineken to a dissatisfied customer. The bottle passes a few dark-skinned people before reaching the white woman who is speaking to a group of white men. The ad used the tagline “sometimes lighter is better”.
Grammy award winner Chance the Rapper took to his Twitter page to condemn the ad as racist, which spiraled into a trending topic.
I think some companies are purposely putting out noticably racist ads so they can get more views. And that shit racist/bogus so I guess I shouldn’t help by posting about it. But ???? I gotta just say tho. The “sometimes lighter is better” Hienekin commercial is terribly racist omg
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) March 26, 2018
Some people sided with Chance while others called it a reach. It eventually led to Heineken removing the ad and apologising in a statement.
“For decades, Heineken has developed diverse marketing that shows there’s more that unites us than divides us,” Heineken USA stated. “While we feel the ad is referencing our Heineken Light beer—we missed the mark, are taking the feedback to heart and will use this to influence future campaigns.”
Chance then clarified that he was not calling for a boycott and was merely bringing attention to the issue.
Im not saying boucott them or go off im just noticing how often it happens and I think they baiting consumers and tweeters and freelancers and shit. Like I didnt wanna tweet about it so bad ???????? but its like how can u not
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) March 26, 2018
Here is how people have reacted to it:
I don’t understand how people are saying that Chance is reaching. Like this is subliminal racism. It only passed dark skinned black people and stopped at a white passing woman? With the slogan “sometimes lighter is better?” lol y’all so dense sometimes
— Omotara thee (barely made the cuttoff) Stallion (@ttttara21) March 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/KameronBankz/status/978084393947488256
I see the point, but issa reach lol
— xandria♥️ (@liteskinnedgirl) March 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/helenehrenhofer/status/978351994103648256
Pepsi: We made the worst ad of the decade.
Heineken: Hold my beer.
Everyone: No.— Amanda Mancino-Williams (@Manda_like_wine) March 26, 2018
'Heineken Light' ad though. Do people in those boardrooms just like triggering the racial debate on purpose?
— MichDaddy (@michstizzy) March 27, 2018
I can see your point Chance. It's the subtle and subliminal messages that do the most harm. This may be intentional, then again maybe not. Only the marketing team knows the true intent.
— Kim The Incredible (@OhSoKimcredible) March 26, 2018
Yeh like some people that make a comment how racist something (totally not racist) might be, to get some extra attention aye mate…
— Ferdi Tolenaar (@ferdi_tolenaar) March 26, 2018
So all light beers are racist?
— ???????????????????????????????????????? (@SugarBeats) March 26, 2018
CHANCE…YOURE REACHING LIKE… pic.twitter.com/GwJIKfdreK
— ???????????????????????????????????????? (@SugarBeats) March 26, 2018
I think the bigger issue is the corporations and companies exploiting the use of minoritized groups in order to pander to our more liberal/inclusive society. Commercials like these show exactly how disconnected they are from such groups by missing clearly apparent red flags.
— Michael (@thsteez_) March 26, 2018
