Supermodel said she was 'shocked' by campaign comparing her to a Dairy Milk Bliss bar
Confectionery giant Cadbury has apologised to Naomi Campbell after the supermodel claimed an advert comparing her to one of its chocolate bars was racist.
The advert for Cadbury's Bliss range of Dairy Milk chocolate bars used the strapline "Move over Naomi, there's a new diva in town".
Campbell said she was "shocked" by the ad, intended as a tongue-in-cheek play on Campbell's reputation for diva-style tantrums and behaviour.
"It's upsetting to be described as chocolate, not just for me but for all black women and black people," she said. "I do not find any humour in this. It is insulting and hurtful."
Campaigning group Operation Black Vote called the ad an "insult" to black women, while the supermodel's mother Valerie said she was "deeply upset by this racist advert".
"This is the 21st century, not the 1950s," she added. "Shame on Cadbury."
The ad was one of 15 developed by Fallon, the agency behind Cadbury's famous drumming gorilla TV campaign.
Cadbury, now part of the Kraft empire, pulled the ads and initially issued a statement saying it was "never our intention to cause offence" and it had positioned the campaign as a "light-hearted take on the social pretensions of Cadbury Dairy Milk Bliss".
Cadbury published a statement on its UK website today in an attempt to draw a line under the row.
In its statement Cadbury said that it was "not our intention that this campaign should offend Naomi, her family or anybody else and we are sincerely sorry that it has done so".
"We have been in discussions with Naomi's solicitors and can confirm that they have accepted our apology on her behalf as a conclusion to this issue," the company said.
Campbell said: "I'm pleased that Cadbury have made a 'sincere apology' in regards to their Bliss ad campaign," she said. "The advertisement was in poor taste on a number of levels, not least in the way they likened me to their chocolate bar. It is also a shame that it took so long for Cadbury to offer this apology."
She added: "I hope they and other multinationals can learn from this; that offence may not be their intention, but when it is shown that it has caused offence a sincere apology straight away goes a long a way."
"Better still they should avoid causing offense in the first place which is best achieved by having greater diversity at board and senior management level."
The Advertising Standards Authority has so far received four complaints about the campaign ? three from members of the public and one from OBV ? that the ad is offensive and derogatory because it compares black women to chocolate.
The ASA is examining the case to see if it warrants a full investigation for a potential breach of the advertising code.
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jun/03/cadbury-naomi-campbell-ad
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