Dunkin’ Donuts under fire for ‘racist’ advert depicting ‘blacked up’ models

Dunkin’ Donuts have been called ‘bizarre and racist’ after using an advert featuring a ‘blacked up’ model. The advert was released in Thailand earlier this year to promote their new charcoal doughnut.

But Human Rights Watch have criticised the move, saying that American audiences would have been outraged at the advert.

A female model with dark skin and bright pink lips is used in both television commercials and posters. She holds the chocolate doughnut with the slogan ‘Break every rule of deliciousness.’

Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said: ‘It’s both bizarre and racist that Dunkin’ Donuts thinks that it must color a woman’s skin black and accentuate her lips with bright pink lipstick to sell a chocolate doughnut. ‘Dunkin’ Donuts should immediately withdraw this ad, publicly apologize to those it’s offended and ensure this never happens again.’

They added that American audiences would react with ‘howls of outrage’ if the advert had been used there.

Despite this, the campaign has not caused outrage in Thailand, reportedly because the use of racial stereotypes in advertisements is common.

Karen Raskopf, Chief Communications Officer, Dunkin’ Brands, said: ‘Dunkin’ Donuts recognizes the insensitivity of this spot and on behalf of our Thailand franchisee and our company, we apologize for any offense it caused.

‘We are working with our franchisee to immediately pull the television spot and to change the campaign.’