A TV advert for Sanex shower gel has been banned after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled it reinforced offensive racial stereotypes.

The ad, created by Hogarth Worldwide and seen in June, featured scenes of two Black women shown with itchy, dry or cracked skin in the “before” shots, while a white woman appeared in the “after” sequence with smooth, hydrated skin following use of the Sanex gel product.

The UK advertising watchdog said two viewers complained that the campaign perpetuated negative stereotypes about people with darker skin tones.

Yet, household and consumer goods manufacturer Colgate-Palmolive, which owns Sanex, said the ad aimed to demonstrate the product’s inclusivity, with models of different ethnic backgrounds used to illustrate “before and after” effects.

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Clearcast also defended the ad, arguing the depictions were stylised and focused on dryness or sensation, not skin colour.

However, the ASA upheld the complaints, concluding that the ad could be seen as implying white skin was “superior” to Black skin.

The ASA said that it “accepted that the use of the different skin colours was a means of portraying a “before and after” of the product’s use, which created a juxtaposition of black skin shown as itchy, dry and cracked in the ‘before’ scenes, and white skin shown as smoother skin in the ‘after’ scenes.

“We considered that could be interpreted as suggesting that white skin was superior to black skin. Although we understood that this message was not the one intended and might appear coincidental or pass unnoticed by some viewers, we considered that the ad was likely to reinforce the negative and offensive racial stereotype that black skin was problematic and that white skin was superior.”

The advertising regulatory body has ordered that the ad must not appear again in its current form and told Colgate-Palmolive to take greater care to avoid causing offence on racial grounds in future campaigns.