Advertising Age reported Procter & Gamble is backpedaling after “The Bachelor” TV Host Chris Harrison—who was serving as a Crest spokesman—sparked culturally clueless controversy involving racially-insensitive commentary. To compound the dark comedy, Harrison was set to promote Crest Whitening Emulsions. Don’t mean to overreact, but add Tide featuring a Jason Alexander hoodie and it all underscores the mega-advertiser’s ignorance. Somebody tell P&G that the talk and the look doesn’t negate the hypocrisy.
Crest Reconsiders Using ‘Bachelor’ TV Host In Whitening Emulsions Ad Following Controversy
By Jack Neff
Procter & Gamble Co. is reconsidering using Chris Harrison of “The Bachelor” in upcoming advertising for Crest Whitening Emulsions given his controversy-fueled hiatus from the show.
Harrison last week said he’s temporarily stepping back from his role on the ABC reality series after blowback against his comments about contestant Rachael Kirkconnell, who was reportedly photographed at an antebellum plantation-themed fraternity event in 2018.
“We are aware of the developments around Chris Harrison and his role as host of The Bachelor,” a spokeswoman for P&G said in a statement. “We are in the process of gathering more information about these circumstances to determine our next steps. We are deeply disappointed in his comments, which do not reflect our values.”
Speaking to former Bachelor contestant turned “Extra” correspondent Rachel Lindsay last week, Harrison said Kirkconnell’s pictures were “from a long time ago” and decried the “cancel culture” backlash.
“I’m not defending Rachael,” Harrison said on “Extra.” “I just know that, I don’t know, 50 million people did that in 2018. That was a type of party that a lot of people went to. And again, I’m not defending it. I didn’t go to it.”
Harrison then apologized on Wednesday. And on Saturday he posted on Instagram that he’s stepping aside from his Bachelor role, saying he was “deeply remorseful” for the pain and damage his “ignorance” caused. “To the Black community, to the BIPOC community: I am so sorry. My words were harmful.”
The reality show went on without him Monday. But it’s unclear whether a Crest ad featuring him, which was created as a follow up for an ad Harrison did last year and set to air next month, will go forward. The Bachelor tie-in is part of a broader campaign behind Whitening Emulsions that launched earlier this month, featuring and partially developed by several influencers.
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