The fairy soap ad by the NK Fairbank Company ran in the early 90’s and portrays two children, one black, one white standing face-to-face with one another. The white child is holding a bar of Fairy soap in her left hand, while the black child stands holding only her dress in her hand.
Below the children in quotes reads, “why doesn’t your mamma wash you with Fairy soap?” The racist elements of the question are far from vague.
The suggestion that the African American’s skin is dirty because it is darker in colour than the white child’s skin is a strong indictment that although the ad attempts to sell soap, there is a more powerful, socialising message omnipresent at the advertisement’s core. These stereotypes send a simple and compelling vision to those who wish to interpret them as truth.
With the evolution of time, advertising has become minimal with clean design and strong messaging. That’s exactly what I tried to do with my design as well. Something like this could easily go on a billboard or in a magazine as a print ad too. With products like Fair and Lovely gimmicking the market by endorsing ‘fairness’ as superiority, women of colour have shown how strong and proud they are irrespective of their race and its historic relevance.
Below the children in quotes reads, “why doesn’t your mamma wash you with Fairy soap?” The racist elements of the question are far from vague.
The suggestion that the African American’s skin is dirty because it is darker in colour than the white child’s skin is a strong indictment that although the ad attempts to sell soap, there is a more powerful, socialising message omnipresent at the advertisement’s core. These stereotypes send a simple and compelling vision to those who wish to interpret them as truth.
With the evolution of time, advertising has become minimal with clean design and strong messaging. That’s exactly what I tried to do with my design as well. Something like this could easily go on a billboard or in a magazine as a print ad too. With products like Fair and Lovely gimmicking the market by endorsing ‘fairness’ as superiority, women of colour have shown how strong and proud they are irrespective of their race and its historic relevance.
