It’s been over two weeks since it was first reported that Nivea had been dropped by its long-time ad agency following accusations of homophobia and the firestorm surrounding the global skincare brand is only growing hotter.
Quick recap: According to Ad Age, it all started when the brand rejected an image the ad agency pitched depicting two men’s hands touching.
In a call with agency creatives, a rep from Nivea allegedly said, “We don’t do gay at Nivea,” unaware that one of the people on the call was gay.
In response, the ad agency announced it was terminating its account with the skincare company at the end of 2019, when its contract expires.
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Shortly after the story broke, Nivea rushed out a statement saying “we don’t comment on unsubstantiated speculations” and touting its commitment to tolerance and diversity:
We are an international company with more than 20,000 employees with very different genders, ethnicities, orientations, backgrounds and personalities worldwide. Through our products, we touch millions of consumers around the globe every day. We know and cherish that individuality and diversity in all regards brings inspiration and creativity to our society and to us as a company.
But the statement did nothing to mitigate the severity of the matter. Soon, the brand was at the center of a full-fledged PR nightmare, where it still remains almost three weeks later.
Despite a huge public outcry and calls for boycotts, the company hasn’t issued any further comment about the controversy.
Not only that, but @NIVEAUSA hasn’t updated its Twitter page since June 16, shortly before the scandal broke, with a tweet about it’s creme moisture body wash.
It’s almost as though Nivea execs are hoping that if they just ignore this long enough maybe it’ll go away.
Unfortunately for them, it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen.
People have been furiously tweeting pictures and videos of themselves discarding their Nivea products into trash bins.
Since @NIVEAUSA does not do gay… I don’t do @niveausa . #nivea #homophobia @Beiersdorf_AG happy pride!! pic.twitter.com/I5TduYHZiy
— Decidocisum (@madg1976) July 2, 2019
@NIVEAUSA @NiveaAustralia “ we don’t do gay at Nivea “ LMAO BYE #nivea pic.twitter.com/kvcQUM4qOe
— Venus Vontrapp (@VenusVontrapp) July 4, 2019
Nivea "don't do gay?".. I'm sure we won't do Nivea now, either. #Nivea @Beiersdorf_AG @NIVEAUSA @niveauk ? pic.twitter.com/6cGj6deGVu
— @womanofappetite (@womanofappetite) July 4, 2019
@NIVEAUSA dont do gay? We dont do nivea. #nivea pic.twitter.com/6weyf9Q9p1
— Andreas Munkholm (@Andrmunk) July 6, 2019
Hey @NIVEAMENUSA I hear you don't do gay. Well I don't do #Nivea anymore. All products in the bin. Never buying again. pic.twitter.com/YGxJKUfxRW
— Wayne Tunks (@waynetunks) July 4, 2019
After a 100-year long relationship Nivea Crème dropped by ad agency FCB due to homophobic comment “We don’t do #gay at #Nivea” over marketing call @NIVEA_Germany your "strong commitment to diversity" better become actually visible, or I will stop. Ich bin auch deutsch und #schwul pic.twitter.com/sQM0jrjqxR
— Miros?awa Štern® RMX (@Generacija78) July 4, 2019
Nivea doesn't do gay? I don't do Nivea. Are you with me? #NOMoreNivea #Nivea pic.twitter.com/7skLfUCkop
— Beverly Buttercup (@BevButtercup) July 7, 2019
They’ve also taken to Instagram to voice their disdain for the brand:
Even George Takei has joined the chorus, encouraging his 3 million followers last week to boycott the brand:
“Nivea was shown an ad proposal from their agency that had two men touching hands. Their response? ‘We don’t do gay at Nivea.’ Well, sorry, but from here forward, we gays and our friends don’t do Nivea.”
Nivea was shown an ad proposal from their agency that had two men touching hands. Their response? “We don’t do gay at Nivea.” Well, sorry, but from here forward, we gays and our friends don’t do Nivea. @NIVEAUSA
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) July 2, 2019
Takei’s tweet has received nearly 21K likes and 5K retweets.
This is definitely going to require more than just a general statement about “unsubstantiated speculations.”
Your move, Nivea.
Related: Gays kick off “LGBTQ Wrath Month” by boycotting Nivea amid allegations of homophobia
Brian
What’s the point? Even if they apologize, gay people aren’t going to accept it. If they were gonna boycott before the apology, they’ll boycott after. All they really are risking at this point is pissing off a second group of people who would be mad at them for caving in to the pressure to apologize. Which I’m sure they will eventually do, and it will be completely insincere.
Jared MacBride
I think they’re waiting for people to move on to the next controversy nd they’re willing to take the small hit to their business in the meantime.
TheMarc
One of the areas where you and I definitely disagree on is boycotts. I do believe they can be effective; but to speak directly to about their clarification not meaning anything or gays not accepting it; I also think that is false. There are definitely “rage-a-holics” that will be made literally no matter what they say or do. But I know there is a significant portion of those expressing their outrage that really want/wanted Nivea to condemn the comments made by a member of their marketing team. “Don’t do gay” is a pretty strong term and seems to be indicative of the corporate culture at Nivea which is very concerning. Forget the marketing to gays aspect. What about gay employees who are really just trying to work and pay their bills and happen to work at Nivea? Their non-response did little to allay an fears or doubts about their corp culture as it relates to diversity when they won’t condemn a highly egregious statement like that.
DarkZephyr
Shock of shocks, I don’t agree with your homophobia enabling pessimism. Barilla pasta apologized and went out of their way to show that they are now pro-LGBT and they have been forgiven.
Cam
Except after the Target boycott, and their apology “Gays” did start shopping there again and their sales went back up.
whitakerk861
Because it’s a political stance that makes people think, unlike your constant posts
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
It’s not a stereo type. Gays spend proportionately more money on skin care products and we do so at an early age. I have been using products since I was in my teens. And it 100% makes a HUGE difference in preserving a youthful appearance.
This abhorrent vile company is so blinded by bigotry and hatred they willingly will take a financial hit….
1898
skin products can be helpful under some circumstances for some people, but you know what makes a much bigger difference? not tanning and not smoking. when i’m on the dating/hookup apps i can spot the tanners and smokers from a mile away because they all look at least 10 years older than their listed age. no amount of moisturizer will change that
the only thing i put on my face other than soap and water is sunscreen 🙂
Mikey E
Marketing statistics pulled directly from your butt!
funpitt412
Take two minutes to put other products in front of theirs at all stores.
skeldare
As much as I agree with the protest, throwing away items after you buy them really isn’t doing much. You’re still giving the company money.
1898
i tend to agree. posting photos on social media of yourself throwing away nearly full bottles of product reeks of privilege
i’ve got nivea shaving cream and aftershave lotion in my bathroom and i’ll use them until they’re used up. i won’t buy nivea again but i’m not going to waste perfectly good things i already paid for and brag about it like that somehow makes me a better person, when there are people down the street who can’t afford a pot to p!ss in
DarkZephyr
While I do agree with you, nothing wrong with putting on a show of tossing out your empty tubes and bottles, because the spectacle of it posted online packs a bigger punch than just tweeting some words.
jomax36
Busted, at this day and age, stop with the hatred these high profile company. Don’t they know their audience on who buys their products. And let’s just say it is big percentage of people. This company just screwed themself literally. Haha
TheMarc
This is a case where “dumping” a product is not only warranted but seemingly necessary. They’re ignoring this without a sufficient statement to directly address the cause of concern. That is a strong indicator that they really could care less about people what think about their brand relative to LGBT inclusion. This isn’t even Chik Fil A (which I don’t support) who HAPPENS to support anti-LGBT causes. This is a company that literally said “we don’t do gay.” That’s a pretty serious and powerful statement for a major brand not to address in any kind of meaningful way; and is therefore, with absolutely no leap in logic, indicative of their corporate culture and ideal customer demographics. I would say they’ve been scared into silence; but this is no mom-and-pop shop. They should have the corporate intelligence and awareness to know that this is simply not good; but they have chosen a path which seems to fully endorse the purely homophobic statement of their employee. Nivea should be canceled by all gays and gay allies even more so than those companies who anti-gay policies are more circumstantial or indirect.
Mikey E
Mounting public outcry! PR nightmare! The evidence is 6 tweets and 4 Insta posts with 3, 10, 15, and 33 likes. I didn’t check all of the tweets, but one is from some Danish guy with 12 followers.
The point is that whenever you see a Queerty story about this or that supposed controversy on the internet, it’s almost always hype based on a handful of social media posts. “Somebody tweeted something!” is Queerty material for clicks and revenue.
DarkZephyr
What the hell do you expect Queerty to do, post EVERY tweet about it? Go check the hashtag for yourself. You will find more than 6 tweets. And your attack on a person for having only 12 followers is ridiculous. Its still 1 person less as a customer for Nivea, regardless of the number of followers they have on social media.
1898
i guess you missed the george takei tweet with 21,000 likes and 5,000 retweets 😉
but point well taken
Cam
So the account that always defends Republican bigots attacking LGBT people doesn’t like bigoted companies being boycotted. No surprise here.
JessPH
Was supposed to buy a Nivea sunscreen a few days ago but decided to just buy Neutrogena.
Cam
Our boycotts against multiple companies have worked. Target, Barilla, etc… meanwhile the right wing bigots boycotts against companies like Disney and Nike have failed.
Nivea should have been smarter.
Kangol2
Thank you. Valid economic boycotts can work, and have. But some right-wing commenters on here would rather smirk or defend homophobes than stand up for other LGBTQ people. Is anyone surprised? What positive changes for LGBTQ life has conservative ideology, politics or politicians ever brought about? And yet once the positive changes are enacted, they’re often the first to rush in and benefit, for themselves. Squeeze Nivea where it hurts, don’t buy their crap, or more simply, “Don’t do Nivea.” They’ll learn.
Cam
@Kangol2 You just described Aaron Schock perfectly. Voted against our rights, now wants to live with those rights.