Internet users in Thailand took to social media today 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 over 84,000 views on YouTube as of today morning with over 3,400 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 women’s genitals also caused much consternation among Internet users.
- dpa
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