Nigerian Model Defends Role In Advert Offensive To Blacks

Tayo Olanipekun

A Nigerian model, Lola Ogunyemi,has disagreed with critics who described her role in a beauty soap advertisement as offensive to the black race.

She said, instead, it was an opportunity to remind the world that dark skinned people are valued and that she is not just “some silent victim of a mistaken beauty campaign.”

British born Ogunyemi who was raised in Atlanta, on Tuesday, wrote in a Guardian of UK oped article that  as a dark-skinned woman, she is aware that the beauty industry has fueled the view presenting lighter, mixed-race or white models as the beauty standard.

She said, however, the experience she had with the team of the product she advertised was positive and contrasted the feedback she received.

“I had an amazing time on set. All of the women in the shoot understood the concept. I had been excited to be a part of the commercial and promote the strength and beauty of my race, so for it to be met with widespread outrage was upsetting,”Ogunyemi noted.

She lamented not knowing her role in the advert would be deemed by the public as one which demeans the black race and make her an inferior, adding she would have declined the offer.

Ogunyemi had featured in a Facebook advert spanning 13 seconds and a TV commercial 30 seconds in length alongside a white and an Asian models, in which she appeared first, with the three of them taking off nude T-shirts and changing to each other in a ‘before’ and ‘after’ campaign for the beauty product.

The company behind the advert has since apologised for “any offence caused” but the model said she believed they could have done so for their creative vision and their choice to include her in the campaign in the first place.

Ogunyemi had been a subject of outrage over the portrayal of the black race in the advert and she acknowledged that her name has now been tagged with “racist advert” on Google.

She said calls were being made to boycott Dove products, adding, “friends from all over the world were checking on me to see if I was OK. I was overwhelmed by just how controversial the ad had become.”

Photo Caption: Lola Ogunyemi, the model in Dove’s racist ad.