As if Dove has been living underneath a rock and is not aware of the current climate regarding race relations, they thought it wise to take a page out of the Pepsi playbook for advertising and post an ad on Facebook with a Black woman removing her t-shirt and morphing into a White woman, I guess after she washed the essence of soul and being down the drain.

The backlash was swift, and Dove issued the standard, “I-got-caught-being-racist-apology.” Dove stated on its Twitter account, “An image we recently posted on Facebook missed the mark in representing women of color thoughtfully. We deeply regret the offense it caused.”

Missed the mark? What exactly was the mark? How low did Dove set the bar in the marketing department?

Who the hell was sitting around the table as they revealed this marketing strategy? When the junior ad executive said, “You know what would be a good idea? If we have an ad with a Black woman and then imply as she removes her t-shirt, there is a White woman underneath. You know, like the Dove soap made her get rid of that nasty, filthy Black skin.” And everyone around the table said, “That sounds like a great idea! This is almost better than that Kendall Jenner Pepsi commercial!” I am stunned that NO ONE thought this not only is a bad idea but a stupid idea. I am shocked that NO ONE said, “You might want to rethink this.”

Are there ANY Black people on your team and if so do they have any real influence?

This is the problem I have with so many organizations that toss around the word “Diversity” and “Inclusivity.” Hiring a Black person that has NO authority, power, and influence, is not inclusivity. It means we have a Black person on staff so we can meet our quota, and roll them out for our functions and photo opportunities.

Paul Polman, the CEO of Unilever, that houses the Dove brand, posted on Twitter just a few days before this debacle, that Dove is a brand that focuses on inclusivity.

Clearly, Dove missed that memo. Dove states on its website that, “Beauty is not defined by shape, size or color – it’s feeling like the best version of yourself. Authentic. Unique. Real. Which is why we’ve made sure our site reflects that. Every image you see here features women cast from real life. A real-life version of beauty.” All of that SOUNDS good, and all that diversity and inclusive lingo will sell rainforest raping soap to the masses. Dove even partnered with media powerhouse Shonda Rhimes to emphasize all types of beauty with their Real Beauty campaign. Companies often do this when it is trendy to do Black shit that will increase their profits.

Dove is like that White guy that dates a Black woman but will never take that woman home to meet his parents.

Dove is like White women that only want to sleep with Black men and have no concern about any of the issues that impact Black men.

Dove is like that Milo Yiannopoulos White person that will be racist by day and sleep with a Black person at night.

Dove is that irritating person on social media when you are making a point about race relations and they say, “Not all.”

Dove is the All Lives Matter of the soap industry.

Dove must have taken a bath in its own product because its racist tendencies are showing.

Partnering with Shonda Rhimes won’t help you. Issuing a whitewashed and lackluster apology won’t help you. Just saying you are a company that is focused on inclusivity, won’t help you.

Black women are the epitome of beauty, grace and resilience. Black women do not need to whitewash who we are to be accepted as beautiful, authentic, unique or real. We don’t have to imitate another culture. We set the trends, and indeed the world follows.

It is 2017. Dove is a billion-dollar brand. Someone on that staff felt this ad was appropriate and Dove co-signed it. You do not get a second chance with me to prove that you made a mistake.

Fuck Dove.