The World’s Worst Anti-Racism Ad

Good cause. Terrible Ad.

An attractive white girl in a bikini saunters out of a swimming pool and seductively applies sun oil as she lounges. The lifeguard keeps staring and smiling at her, but when she gets a bit too tanned and turns into some horrible black creature, the lifeguard suddenly changes tack: He turns stern, prevents her from swimming and forces her to don a domestic worker’s uniform.

I get the idea for this ad. I really do. That the same girl who attracted the man immediately repulsed him when her color changed, and that is supposed to carry some deep meaning about our flawed human nature. I also understand that this is an attempt at comedy and that it should not be taken seriously. But still, here’s why the ad annoys me:

• An ad about the rights of colored people doesn’t contain a single (real) colored person
• By using sex to sell anti racism, the ad is subconsciously reinforcing the cult of physical appearance that the Lebanese are captive to
• The ad unwittingly reinforces the idea that the Lebanese wouldn’t share a swimming pool with a colored person. The viewer will ask: Couldn’t those anti racism people find actors who are willing to share a swimming pool with a real Srilanki or Ethiopian woman? Is this why they had to paint that actress black?
• The ad has committed the cardinal sin of comedy: You don’t create humor out of the weak party, you always make fun of the powerful. In this ad, the funny character is not supposed to be the “black” girl, it’s supposed to be the lifeguard or the people who are refusing to share the pool with her

I can go on and on. I’m upset because I really like the work of the anti-racism people and I appreciate the effort they’re making to spread the word (and the very fact that they have made a well produced 30-second ad). This critique is not about ill intention or maliciousness. It is one about mediocrity and opportunity lost.

Update: The anti racism movement has issued an official statement about the video