White skin ‘superior’, black ‘problematic’: Why this shower gel ad got banned in UK

Broadcast in June, the ad featured a Black woman with red scratch marks and another with cracked, clay-like skin as a voiceover described irritation and dryness. It then showed a white woman showering with the product, accompanied by the line: “Relief could be as simple as a shower.”

🚨This advert for Sanex shower gel has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority on the grounds that it “suggests that white skin is superior to black skin”.

The charge? Because the dark-skinned model happens to have dry and itchy skin and the white-skinned model… pic.twitter.com/WglNuw1N2Y— James Esses (@JamesEsses) August 20, 2025

As per a report by The Guardian, Colgate-Palmolive, which owns Sanex, argued the ad did not perpetuate stereotypes and was intended to show a “before and after” effect, saying skin tone was not a focal point. Ad clearance body Clearcast also defended the campaign as inclusive.

But the ASA, as per a report by The Guardian, ruled that the ad was “structured in such a way that it was the black skin… which was shown to be problematic and uncomfortable, whereas the white skin… was shown successfully changed and resolved”.

It concluded the commercial was “likely to reinforce the negative and offensive racial stereotype that black skin was problematic and that white skin was superior” and said it must not appear again in its current form.

The ASA said it had concluded the advert breached the broadcast advertising code and was likely to cause serious offence.