Heineken pulls ad that Chance the Rapper calls "terribly racist"

Heineken pulls its "Sometimes, Lighter is Better" commercial

Heineken has yanked a commercial called "terribly racist" by Chance the Rapper.

The ad depicted a bartender sliding a bottle of beer past several black people before stopping in front of a lighter-skin female, with the tagline "sometimes lighter is better."

A spokesperson for Heineken on Tuesday confirmed the ad had been pulled.

"While we feel the ad is referencing our Heineken light beer -- we missed the mark, are taking the feedback to heart and will use this to influence future campaigns," the Dutch brewery said Monday in a statement.

Chance the Rapper did not call for a boycott in his tweets, but instead advanced a theory that "some companies are purposely putting out noticeably racist ads so they can get more views."

Heineken Ad "Lighter is Better"? by Chatty Passenger on YouTube

The commercial is not the first to face a backlash after racially insensitive ads.

In January, Swedish retailer H&M apologized for an ad showing a black child wearing a hoodie with the phrase "coolest monkey in the jungle." 

In October 2017, Kellogg's drew criticism for a drawing on its Corn Pops box that showed the only brown Corn Pop as a janitor. The company apologized and said it would find other artwork.

H&M

Also last year, Dove apologized for a Facebook marketing campaign that showed a black woman turning white after using its soap. As Heineken would later say, Dove said it "missed the mark."

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