Dove: any colour… as long as it’s ‘snow-white’

I MUST commend the Editor’s view (The Mercury, October 10) on the frank outrage expressed over the racist Dove advertising controversy that has taken social media by storm.

In so saying, I must also commend the well-reasoned letter by Yasmina Sadeck, published alongside the Editor’s broadside.

One of the fundamental problems that exists in mass media is that “fair” is always equated to beauty. “Who is the fairest of them

Stop feeding the colour monster…

IT IS so amusing how defensive we all are around skin colour, had this been an advertisement for clothing, it would have been perfect – “Washing whites whiter and brights brighter”.

But alas, it was not, and the assumption is there that Dove soap will wash the dirt right off you and turn you white with cleanliness.

The white model, in her spare time, is probably fake-tanning or sunbathing herself to get some of that brown colour, and the black model may just as well be resorting to skin-lighteners to get some of that whiteness.

People are seldom happy with their God-given appearances, and it’s upon these insecurities that the beauty industry capitalises in advertising campaigns.

As long as these body issue perceptions exist, we will be feeding the colour monster in the skin industry. It’s up to us to show our kids by example that beauty is only skin-deep and real beauty comes from within, so that adverts such as the Dove one serve only to amuse, and not anger.

Give your self a sense of who you are, and not what you think you should be to be beautiful, and all these adverts are lost on the confident person.

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, see the world through confident, self-assured eyes and the need for false perception advertising falls away. J MAHOMED Pietermaritzburg

Enough talk; help flood victims, please

KWAZULU-NATAL and places along the coast experienced floods that have seen the poorest suffer the most, as usual. Houses collapsed, cars were stuck in heavy floods and, devastatingly, lives were lost.

Residents of the flooded areas are stranded and hope the government will provide some assistance. Their hopes should not be unexpected because the government has been promising a better life for all since 1994.

The floods witnessed before should have acted as a warning of what to expect in the coming months. However, it seems the government has a tendency to act only after an incident occurs.

The government is faced with the challenge of addressing the destruction of infrastructure, displaced people and loss of lives.

Just looking at the history, government funds have been spent carelessly. The government provides allowances, parliamentary houses, and house and cars allowances for ministers. The state paid for President Jacob Zuma’s legal fees during his corruption trial. The concern is that officials are paid yet they are given all these privileges.

And the government has a reputation of spending money irresponsibly.

The situation highlights the irresponsibility and lack of prioritisation. The government should carefully look at the budget allocated to relief and disaster management, take responsibility and stop making excuses. E PEEK Glenwood

Lack of response from city says it all

GIVEN the scale of the storm in Durban and surrounding areas on Tuesday, I would have thought city management would have made all?” Snow White beckons the mirror. Who would have thought up a name like that, let alone the drivel that spews from her mouth?

While Snow White may be dismissed as having been written at a time when being politically correct wasn’t an imperative, Dove is an extension of this kind of warped thinking.

Sadeck makes the very pertinent point that this is not the first time that Dove and Unilever have outraged black people globally. every effort to assist the residents and motorists of Durban.

I was shocked to find the opposite in the total lack of response by the city to the plight of its residents.

Downed trees across major roads and freeways met with no response, flooded roads and stranded cars elicited nothing from the city police. Where were they?

I recall a question being asked in the recent past about how ready the city was to manage a disaster. Given the response to the storm, I would say the city isn’t ready at all. RUSSELL WRIGHT

Pinetown

Mother Nature batters us into line

MOTHER Nature has shown its wrath. It has battered the earth and wreaked havoc on mankind.

Devastating hurricanes in the Caribbean and Florida, earthquakes in Mexico, volcano in the Philippines, floods in Rome, monsoon rains ravaging south Asia.

Paralysing Mumbai, the financial hub of India, typhoon in Vietnam, raging fires in California.

A fierce hailstorm in Gauteng and Mpumalanga, gale force winds and torrential downpour in Durban causing havoc on the roads and even heavy snow on Sani Pass.

The storm was so powerful that a giant container ship lost control and got stuck at the harbour entrance.

So many different natural forces in so many parts of the world. What an arsenal Mother Nature has.

We watched hurricane after hurricane devastate the Caribbean Islands, then we saw a violent hailstorm batter Gauteng and we counted ourselves lucky. An adapted adage comes to mind: You insult me once, it’s your fault. You insult me twice, it’s my fault. Consumers must act with their feet.

And they should also question the use of a white dove in the product’s corporate branding.

It’s as plain as day that the products are aimed at those who aspire to being “snow-white”!

However, this beggars the question about corporate transformation. Unilever SA has never in its century-long history had a person

Little did we suspect that we would be the next victims of angry Mother Nature. For an hour or two it showed who was lord of the earth and how puny man really is.

The floods caused death and destruction with damage running into millions.

While I felt sorrow for the hundreds of motorists who abandoned their vehicles and managed to scramble to safety, a thought crossed my mind.

It must have been a terrifying, humbling experience for those reckless, arrogant drivers who think they are the kings of the road. I also thought how clean Durban must be.

All our filth would have been washed into the sea.

For some time scientists have been warning us to mend our wasteful ways. But we have been too busy with our lives – building, acquiring and accumulating – to take any notice.

Now nature has lost its patience and beaten us into submission. If we don’t change, it could get worse. T MARKANDAN

Silverglen

My heart goes out to the Durbanites

MY parents run a bed and breakfast in Durban North which has been absolutely devastated in this storm.

They have had their conference centre flooded and damaged structurally – and are due to host a massive conference on Thursday and Friday this week, which obviously cannot go ahead, adding to their trauma. The costs to the business today and for the foreseeable future are terrifying.

They are in shock and are doing of colour at its helm. In a country where the majority of its consumers are black, it betrays their capitalist and monopolistic policies, for all to see.

Positions of leadership are routinely filled with emigrants from Holland and England, its European motherland.

As is the case globally: no person of colour has ever headed up either of its twin headquarters.

Furthermore, the advertising agencies that it engages are also their very best to keep the business up and running – while dealing with collapsing roofs and flooded accommodation. My heart goes out to the people of Durban. ANTOINETTE MCDAID Durban North

Use your vote to make SA great

I SEE that the SABC has made a loss of R977 million.

The SAA has been bailed out for approximately R6bn for the third time. What a disaster of a government!

Then we have dozens of MPs suspended on full pay for months and often years – relaxing/loafing at home. Think about it – why would anyone vote for the ANC?

Think again and imagine how good it would be if all this wasted revenue was used to educate the students who deserve free education (not the free loaders)? South Africa would prosper once again.

Come on guys – wake up and when voting comes around at the end of the year remember what a disaster your government has been and how great it could be if everyone did the right thing. B CALDERWOOD

Kloof

Vigilante mom ruling welcomed

THE news that charges had been withdrawn in respect of the mother who had killed a rapist and wounded two others who she caught red-handed raping her daughter is almost entirely white-owned or controlled.

These white creatives develop content from the mindset in which they were raised and reflect an insensitivity to the majority of South Africans.

While much has been written and said about white monopoly capital, I suppose there could be no clearer exemplar of this paradigm than the likes of Dove and Unilever. VEER SINGH

Waterfall welcoming.

The NPA must be commended for this, as well as others who supported her after her arrest. The death of any human being, no matter the circumstances, is sad because they leave behind family and friends who mourn their loss in most instances. Injuries generally cause pain and suffering and leave wounds.

In the case of the offenders in question, they have only themselves to blame as they had committed a despicable deed that can never be condoned or justified. While vigilantism is not to be encouraged, the mother’s act in defence of her helpless child should send a clear message to criminals and other thugs that criminal actions will have dire consequences.

While one looks to the law enforcement personnel generally to ensure one’s safety and the prosecution and judiciary to see to it that criminals are prosecuted and appropriate sentences are meted out, it is common knowledge that the rate of successful prosecution is poor due to various factors.

Worse, sometimes files or dockets are lost, stolen or “go walkies”, officials are bribed and police investigations are shoddy. Regrettably, these shameful deeds result in justice being denied.

Citizens have a constitutional right to safety, peace and protection of person and property, which must be upheld at all times, even in these dark days where crime and corruption are rife and lawlessness abounds. Too often citizens become prisoners in their own homes and don’t have much faith in the justice system, often for good reason. SIMON T DEHAL

Verulam