BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

Brazilian toilet paper brand apologises for using black empowerment slogan

  • Published
    25 October 2017
Share page
About sharing
woman draped in toilet rollImage source, Santher
Image caption,

The advert featured the words 'Black Is Beautiful' which have since been removed.

ByRozina Sini
BBC UGC and Social News

A toilet paper manufacturer in Brazil has dropped the slogan "Black Is Beautiful" from its black-coloured brand.

It is not so much the colour of the toilet roll, but the advert for it, which has attracted the most criticism.

Personal VIP Black toilet paper was launched on Monday by Sao Paulo manufacturers Santher.

It showed white actress Marina Ruy Barbosa draped in the black paper alongside the words 'Black Is Beautiful.'

The words have been removed following criticism by racial equality campaigners for the misappropriation of a slogan synonymous with a historic cultural movement intended to empower black communities.

Paulino Cardoso, external, a professor at Universidade de Estado de Santa Catarina and an organiser of black Latin American academics, railed against what he called a "band of damned racists."

He posted: "It is good to boycott and denounce all this propaganda".

You may also like:

  • Dove apologises for 'racist' Facebook advertising campaign

  • The Saudi Arabian call to boycott Pizza Hut over advert

  • From Pepsi to Nivea: Some of the worst advertising fails

Steve Biko in 1977Image source, AFP
Image caption,

Campaigner Steve Biko used the term 'Black Is Beautiful' as part of the Black Consciousness Movement

The term "Black Is Beautiful" emerged in the 1960s from African-American communities fighting for civil rights. It later become more prominent in the writings of the Black Conciousness Movement of Steve Biko during the anti-apartheid era.

The term was intended to promote black features such as skin colour and hair textures as equal to white beauty standards.

Rio de Janeiro-based writer Anderson Franca articulated why the term was offensive in a Facebook post, external.

"If you search 'Black Is Beautiful' anywhere in the world you'll find references to Angela Davis, Malcolm X, The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, Fela Kuti, James Baldwin, and Nina Simone, but not in Brazil," he posted.

"People died for this expression to be revered to this day. People are still dying and this expression is more important and vital than ever before.

"But in Brazil, if you type #blackisbeautiful you will find toilet paper."

Franca's post has been shared almost 3,000 times since being published on Monday evening with the discussion spreading across social media.

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post by Lip

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post by Lip

"In Brazil #blackisbeautiful is not a cause, it is toilet paper. Where do black lives matter?" agreed one Twitter user, external.

Others were less critical, suggesting the campaign was more ill-judged than racist.

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 2 by esforçado

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 2 by esforçado

While another Twitter user, external said he was not offended by the advert at all: "Mate, I'm black and I wasn't offended by this. Black is the colour of the paper, it doesn't refer to race. Crazy people need to stop trying to make a problem out of everything".

Manufacturer Santher withdrew the slogan and issued a statement on its website, external and the Facebook page, external of its Familia Personal brand.

"We would like to clarify that we have never had any intention of provoking a racial discussion through the launch of our Personal VIP Black Toilet Paper," read the statement.

The company also apologised for "the possible mistaken association of the phrase adopted by the black movement, which we respect and admire so much," and added "it's always time to learn."

Barbosa, who featured in the advert, has also apologised on her Twitter page, external for any offence caused.

Additional reporting by Pascal Fletcher, BBC Monitoring

More on this story

  • Walkers Crisps Lineker campaign backfires

    • Published
      25 May 2017
    Walkers Crisps advert gone wrong
  • National Lottery Twitter campaign fail

    • Published
      15 August 2017
    Eilidh Doyle holds a sign superimposed with the slogan: Yer Da sells Avon
  • Letter from Africa: Black beauty

    • Published
      21 January 2015
    A model has her makeup done backstage at the annual Nairobi Fashion week in Nairobi on November 28, 2014
  • 'Too black' panto boss hits back

    • Published
      14 October 2016
    Promotional photo for Sleeping Beauty, to be staged at the Stag Theatre in Sevenoaks
  • 'Our hair is part of who we are'

    • Published
      6 May 2017
    Shannon Fitzsimmons

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Israel approves Trump’s plan for Gaza ceasefire and hostage release

    • 10654 viewing11k viewing
  • Major Russian strikes cut power across Kyiv

    • Published
      22 minutes ago
  • New York Attorney General Letitia James criminally indicted

    • Published
      4 hours ago

More to explore

  • Woman in Dutch beach cold case named after 21 years

    Interpol image showing a black and white sketch of Eva Maria Pommer, whose body was found on a Dutch beach in 2004
  • 'Peace within reach' and 'A moment of shared hope'

    A composite image of Metro and the Daily Mirror. "Peace within reach at last" reads the headline of the former and "a moment of shared hope" reads the headline of the latter.
  • Tech billionaires seem to be doom prepping. Should we all be worried?

    Mark Zuckerberg's eyes looking worried
  • How Trump secured a Gaza breakthrough which eluded Biden

    Trump is on the left with his back to the camera, looking right towards Netanyahu who is also with his back to the lens, looking left towards Trump. Both men have dark suits and white shirts
  • Huge buzz but a big gamble: Battlefield 6 takes aim at Call of Duty

    Screenshot from Battlefield 6 shows a female sniper resting her cheek on the stock of a long-range rifle as she looks down its scope. There is a look of concentration on her face, which is flecked with black dust.
  • Weekly quiz: What did Queen Camilla say about Jilly Cooper?

    Jilly Cooper listening to Queen Camilla telling a story
  • How 20 minutes of nature can boost your health

    A wide, front view angle shot of a family and their dog walking through a woodland forest in Northumberland, Northeastern England during the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • The new AI arms race changing the war in Ukraine

    Serhiy Beskrestnov is a middle-aged man wearing a khaki uniform. He is holding a drone with a wingspan of just under a metre and a half. It looks quite roughly put together - crudely constructed. Serhiy is looking down a barrel of the camera.
  • The Upbeat newsletter: Start your week on a high with uplifting stories delivered to your inbox

    A graphic of a wave in the colours of yellow, amber and orange against a pink sky
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Tech billionaires seem to be doom prepping. Should we all be worried?

  2. 2

    Fossil found on Dorset coast is unique 'sword dragon' species

  3. 3

    New York Attorney General Letitia James criminally indicted

  4. 4

    Woman in Dutch beach cold case named after 21 years

  5. 5

    'Peace within reach' and 'A moment of shared hope'

  6. 6

    Thousands more university jobs cut as financial crisis deepens

  7. 7

    How 20 minutes of nature can boost your health

  8. 8

    Celebrity Traitors episode two was as killer as Tom Daley's side-eye

  9. 9

    Sunak joins Microsoft and AI firm as paid adviser

  10. 10

    Weekly quiz: What did Queen Camilla say about Jilly Cooper?

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

The Celebrity Traitors

  • An all-star cast enters the ultimate game of deceit

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    The Celebrity Traitors has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    The Celebrity Traitors
  • All the betrayal and drama unpacked

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked
  • Meet the Celebrity Traitors as the mind games begin

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    The Celebrity Traitors has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    The Celebrity Traitors
  • A treacherously good version of a pop classic

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    BBC Proms has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    BBC Proms 2025: Britney Spears
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.