Re-Civilize Yourself

Nivea's ad featured above sparked a lot of controversy in the media when it was released. Being considered a racist slur against the African American community. The suggestion that the cream designed for men would change his appearance and make him an altogether more presentable person is most offensive because it features an African American man throwing what is implied to be his own head once he adhered to a certain stereotype of "civilized". The idea that the African American man wasn't civilized before he used the handcream suggests a certain racialization. Its long been suggested that African American's do not have the same status quo as the caucasion male and this ad reinforces the idea. While Nivea claimed nothing offensive was intended in their ad featuring the African American, the companion ad featuring a white man had an altogether different tone. The second ad featured the line "Sin City isn't an excuse to look like hell" implying nothin of the man or his character, but that he had a hard night in a fun city. There has been no mention of the second ad being pulled as it makes no direct reference to the man in a racial manner. The stark contrast of the two ads adds fuel to the debate of the racism in the first. If no offense was meant, why did the second ad featuring a white man not have a similar slogan and meaning?