14089: No Chance For Heineken.

Advertising Age reported Chance the Rapper was offered a Global Brand Ambassador-Creative Director position with Heineken—and the artist graciously declined, bucking the trend of Black recording artists landing advertising roles.

“I think some companies are purposely hiring Black artists so they can get more street cred. And that shit is racist/bogus, so I guess I shouldn’t help by playing along,” tweeted the rapper. “But I gotta just say tho. Heineken is terribly racist omg.”

Heineken responded to the rejection quickly, offering the same position to MC Hammer, although for considerably less money.

Meanwhile, White advertising agency Publicis has pledged to continue looking for Blacks to hire too.

14086: Heineken Hooey.

Advertising Age wondered, “How did this happen? Behind Heineken Light’s ‘lighter is better’ ad mistake.” Does anyone really need to ask the question? As MultiCultClassics noted, Heineken has executed questionable moves in the past, involving the actual work and the ways the work has been assigned. And its White advertising agencies have even worse records of cultural cluelessness. When ignorant brands partner with ignorant agencies, the ignorance is magnified. Of course, idiots like Brad Jakeman will blame “vocal minorities” such as Chance the Rapper. Meanwhile, the responsible advertising agency is the “non-vocal majority” that dodges accountability. Advertising Age opined the scenario showed “the inherent danger when brands try to import work into the U.S. from abroad.” Okay, but it appears that the responsible advertising agency is part of a global network—and these holding companies sell themselves to clients as being most qualified to handle global messages. Chance the Rapper originally stated, “I think some companies are purposely putting out [noticeably] racist ads so they can get more views.” Sadly, some companies are putting out racist ads because they—and their “global” advertising agencies—have limited views of the world.

14082: Sometimes Whiter Is Not Better.

Advertising Age reported Chance the Rapper labeled the new Heineken Light campaign as racist. Heineken responded by stating, “For decades, Heineken has developed diverse marketing that shows there’s more that unites us than divides us. While we feel the ad is referencing our Heineken Light beer—we missed the mark, are taking the feedback to heart and will use this to influence future campaigns.” Okay, but Heineken does have a history of questionable treatment of minorities, exclusive account reviews, patronizing pontificating and culturally clueless lust. And White advertising agencies have an even longer history of excreting biased bullshit. So it’s hard to believe the latest fuck-up happened by chance.

Chance the Rapper calls Heineken Light’s ‘sometimes lighter is better’ ads racist

By E.J. Schultz

Heineken Light is on the defensive over new ads that use the tagline “sometimes lighter is better,” after they were deemed racist by Chance the Rapper.

In a message on Twitter, where he has more than 7 million followers, the artist held up one of the ads as an example of how, in his view, marketers sometimes don’t mind getting called racist:

The provocative accusation drew a range of responses, with some people siding with him and others calling it a reach. But Heineken quickly realized that it was in some trouble, and sought to get ahead of any backlash with a statement.

“For decades, Heineken has developed diverse marketing that shows there’s more that unites us than divides us,” Heineken USA stated. “While we feel the ad is referencing our Heineken Light beer—we missed the mark, are taking the feedback to heart and will use this to influence future campaigns.”

Heineken USA did not immediately respond to a question asking whether the ads would be pulled.

One of the ads, which has been airing on TV for several days, shows a bartender sliding a Heineken Light down a bar to a woman who appears dissatisfied with her glass of wine. The beer passes several dark-skinned bargoers before reaching the woman, who has lighter skin than some of the other patrons. Despite Heineken’s best intentions, the juxtaposition of the tagline and casting choices are perplexing, especially in an environment in which other brands have been called out for lacking cultural sensitivity.

Chance the Rapper later clarified that he was not calling for a boycott and that he simply wanted to bring attention to the issue.

Heineken Light posted three versions of the ads to its YouTube page two days ago. All of them seek to position Heineken Light against competing cocktails and wines. The broader strategy follows other beer brands that have gotten more aggressive targeting wine and spirits, which have eaten into beer’s market share.