Netizens raise their eyebrows over a gluta company’s ad against brown-skinned Filipinos

Netizens raised their eyebrows after they saw how a glutathione soap company advertised its brand.

“Maputi lang, hired na? Unfair ‘di ba?” The company said.

The billboards were spread around Metro Manila and the netizens cannot stop themselves from expressing their disappointment over the ad because according to them, the message of the company is to make the brown-skinned people pitiful.

“Congratulations on becoming viral in the worst way.” Spanky Enriquez said.

Another netizen even made a letter addressing the company, saying that she accepted her skin without the help of whitening soap.

“This advertisement will not do anything to help most Filipinas’ esteem & self-love. This will not help society learn that there is not just one set of criteria for physical beauty. This will not teach our society that we are equal no matter the skin tone or skin color or race. If this happened when I was in 6th grade, I would definitely buy these even if my parents will disapprove. Because at 12 years old, I did not know any better. And if I did buy and use these products, I would have not reached this level of self-acceptance and love. Those who will buy your products (because of this ad) may get an immediate and superficial solution to their insecurity, but the chances of them attaining self-acceptance and self-love are very low. We challenge you to heighten your sense of corporate social responsibility,” Netizen Martha Comia wrote.

Even celebrity Bianca Gonzales made a statement over the infamous advertisement.

“There is no problem at all sa mga gustong magpaputi. The problem is when whitening brands make us look [‘kaawa-awa’] dahil lang maitim kami. Kasi, hindi po kami kawawa, maganda ang kulay namin.” Gonzalez said.

“I grew up loving my brown skin because of beautiful women like Angel Aquino and Tweetie de Leon who proudly flaunted their brown skin. I looked up to them. I did not need to compare myself to fair skinned girls. It need not be a “battle” of maitim versus maputi.” she added.

“I now have two daughters, and both of them are morena. When they grow up, choice nila kung magpapa-tan or magpapaputi sila. But what I will teach them is that being brown is not something “shameful”, and being brown is not something that makes them less beautiful than others.” 

Meanwhile, netizens also swarmed the social media pages of the said glutathione company.

The company defended themselves from the criticisms saying that their campaign didn’t mean to be against brown-skinned people, but to “empower” the Filipino people to “choose how to find their confidence”.

“According to our research, mayroon parin talagang mga taong nakakaranas ng unfair treatment. Based on a poll, nearly half of Filipinos believe that those with darker skin are judged negatively by others,” the company told one complainant.

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