An image depicting a rather disappointed woman wearing face paint of the classic Croatian ”checker” colours of red and white appeared on Nivea’s Instagram page recently, in an ad in which the company claimed that its micellar water (which, let’s be honest, nobody had ever even heard of until fairly recently) can ”wipe away everything but the tears”. In the upper left-hand corner of the photo sits the score from the Croatia-Argentina match.
Argentina dashed Croatia’s dreams of winning the 2022 World Cup by beating the national team 3-0. A disappointing result indeed, especially when that is coupled with behaviour from the ref that many disagreed with. We’re not sure how Nivea could ever think, as an enormous, internationally recognisable company with an otherwise fantastic reputation based on the trust of its countless customers, that poking fun at entire nations could be a good campaign for its, erm… ”micellar water”.
While some believe that Nivea would have poked fun at any other nation in Croatia’s position and used their flag for their product advertisement, others are offended that the small but mighty nation of Croatia which struggled so hard for its independence and has performed so well in the sporting world in general, not only in this year’s World Cup, is being used in such a negative manner.
Nivea has also used the Moroccan flag in the same negative light to try to sell its micellar water, which allegedly ”removes face paint”, seeing not only Croatian fans but also fans from Morocco calling for a boycott of the large brand for its insensitivity and frankly ridiculous ”creative” decision. Referred to as an ”outrageous and provocative” campaign, many in both countries feel targeted.
Faced with likely unexpected backlash for this utterly ridiculous advertisement, Nivea retracted their ad and replaced it with an official apology aimed at both the Croatian and Moroccan national teams. The company then issued an official statement, in which they stated that they “deeply apologise” for the move, and that they recognise the “fantastic achievement” of both the European and the North African teams in question.
It hasn’t done much good, with people still calling to boycott the brand which has let itself down rather spectacularly with this move.
For more, check out our news section.
