Chance the Rapper has labeled a Heineken ad with the tagline "sometimes, lighter is better" as "terribly racist."
The ad features a bartender sliding a bottle of Heineken Light to a fair-skinned woman, bypassing several people of color.
Chance called out Heineken’s spot on Twitter on Sunday night, saying some companies are "purposely putting out noticeably racist ads so they can get more views. And that shit racist/bogus so I guess I shouldn’t help by posting about it."
However, the rapper said he is not trying to spark a Heineken "boycott."
I found that joint ????https://t.co/r4cgSLE8Uz
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) March 26, 2018
Im not saying boucott them or go off im just noticing how often it happens and I think they baiting consumers and tweeters and freelancers and shit. Like I didnt wanna tweet about it so bad ???? but its like how can u not
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) March 26, 2018
Heineken acknowledged in an emailed statement that it "missed the mark" with the ad.
"For decades, Heineken has developed diverse marketing that shows there’s more that unites us than divides us," the company said. "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."
In the past year, brands such as Dove and H&M have been called out by consumers for marketing they consider racist. Early this year, H&M used a black boy to model a sweatshirt with the words "coolest monkey in the jungle." The retailer removed the image and apologized.
Dove posted a GIF last October that depicted a black woman removing her top and morphing into a white woman after using Dove body lotion. Dove also apologized for the spot.
This story was updated on March 26 with comment from Heineken.
