Dior accused of cultural appropriation for Johnny Depp campaign
![The teaser video, featuring a voiceover from Johnny Depp, received a huge online backlash. [Photo: Getty]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/iTKGxQF_cA5VmX56_gHEfQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD05NjA-/https://media-mbst-pub-ue1.s3.amazonaws.com/creatr-uploaded-images/2019-08/18290530-cbc8-11e9-bd37-742a1c97c4bf)
Dior caused Twitter fury yesterday after posting a teaser video to advertise its new “Sauvage” cologne campaign.
The video showed a man in traditional native American dress dancing in the desert.
Twitter users quickly leapt on the video, accusing Dior of cultural appropriation and racism.
Dior has since removed all traces of the video, but many savvy social media users had already saved it.
4. OMG the full @Dior/@LVMH ad is worse than the teaser!
This ad is unlisted on YouTube so that's why it hasn't gotten as much attention as the teaser in the first tweet in this thread.
WOW
h/t @andreagonram pic.twitter.com/MyqjqHC1Wd— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) August 30, 2019
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The tweet - before it was deleted - announced: “An authentic journey deep into the Native American soul in a sacred, founding and secular territory. More to come. September 1st.”
Yahoo UK has contacted Dior for comment.
In the full video, Johnny Depp, who has been the face of the fragrance since 2015, is seen playing a guitar. His co-star Canku One Star of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe performs a warrior dance in a traditional Native American garments alongside him.
Twitter users were particularly disappointed with the fragrance name “Sauvage” being so closely aligned with the word “savage”.
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I see @Dior took down their tweet. I can imagine they are having a shit storm of meetings right now wondering how they didn't see how RACIST they were! Wonder how much they spent on marketing, labels, staff, advertising? Whoever green lighted this is an idiot. #DiorSauvage
— Christi Belcourt (@christibelcourt) August 30, 2019
The absurdity of the @Dior #Sauvage Ad w/ Johnny Depp:
• Supposedly anti-appropriation, but goes balls deep in appropriation.
• Titles the actress as maiden & the native actor, warrior.
• Says it is helping Native folx, but invokes stupid/ignorant "indian" tropes.
...— Dallas Goldtooth (@dallasgoldtooth) August 30, 2019
Ad executive at Dior: "hey let's put out a new perfume that features indigenous people and call it "Sauvage"
Senior VP of Marketing: "Sound great, but how can we make it even more racist?
Ad executive: Easy, we'll say it has "oriental tones" #DiorSauvage pic.twitter.com/UYcScICvsJ— JPFrankenstein 🌹 (@JPFrankenstein) August 30, 2019
@Dior if you wanted to be authentic you should of made a perfume called "colonizer," a journey deep into the colonial soul , in a stolen territory. Where @dior markets itself on racism and stupidity. More to come. September 1st. #boycottdior
— Amber Bernard (@Abernardnews) August 30, 2019
“Whoever green lighted this is an idiot.” One straight to the point tweet announced.
The hashtag #boycottdior has also started to gain some traction, with disgruntled people using it to express their frustration over the campaign.
Not everybody found the advert offensive though. Many people spoke out in defence of it, describing it as a “homage” to the culture.
Some also reported that Dior collaborated with Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO) to "ensure respect for indigenous cultures, values and heritage."
Dior collaborated with Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO) to "ensure respect for indigenous cultures, values and heritage." AIO is run by LaDonna Harris, who adopted Johnny Depp into the Comanche Nation before he played Tonto in 2013's reboot of The Lone Ranger pic.twitter.com/uTGx0Er2gs
— Jeff Yang (@originalspin) August 30, 2019
Reasons why your outrage over the Dior Sauvage ad is invalid and ridiculous:
- Natives participated in the creation of the ad.
- Johnny Depp is part indigenous.
- They did not mock or make fun of the culture.
- It was a homage.
- And finally, the meaning of Sauvage: pic.twitter.com/eqAKDh94Cx— ▪haley▪ (@sparrabitch) August 30, 2019
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Some people argued that every community has “folks willing to consult on stuff like this” but that “it doesn’t protect the company from its decisions”.
This isn’t the first time a brand has been called out for an advert recently.
This year, a whisky advert featuring a man jumping off a cliff has been banned for promoting “risk-taking” behaviour.
Burger King also removed its advert of people eating burgers with chopsticks recently.
